One of the most notable corruption cases in New York City History — starting with the filming of a music video in a Brooklyn church and ending with the mayor’s (already poor) reputation being shot — seems set to end in an anti-climactic manner. As of April 2, 2025, charges against Eric Adams were dismissed, leaving a wave of government distrust in its wake and a slew of Democratic candidates running to be New York City’s next mayor. The indictment claimed that Adams committed five separate crimes: bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and two counts of soliciting campaign donations from foreign bodies from as far back as 2014.
Since the indictment was dismissed with prejudice, prosecutors cannot revisit the charges until after the election in November. Somehow, in a scandal that caused a major chunk of his administration to resign in disgrace, Mayor Adams has escaped relatively unscathed. He maintains his position as mayor of New York, albeit with millions of dollars in debt and an unclear path to reelection.
In any other case, Adams’ career as a public servant would be finished, and he would most likely turn to a hedonistic, club-hopping lifestyle that he clearly yearns for, as he has blended his love of nightlife with his politics for years. But this is not any other political scandal, nor is Eric Adams any other corrupt politician. Adams has had amazing luck in his position, but most importantly, he has friends in powerful places.
Adams’ federal charges being dropped is both upsetting and a blatant failure in our justice system. It’s also completely unsurprising.
The writing has been on the wall for months, ever since Adams made a last-minute appearance at President Donald Trump’s inauguration, reportedly leaving New York at 3 a.m. to make the event, canceling his scheduled appearances at two Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events to attend the ceremony. His relationship with Trump, which was originally difficult to define, is clearly more positive than he would like to admit.
The dynamic between Adams and Trump raises serious questions about the integrity of the judicial process and the political motivations behind it. It’s important to note that many in the Justice Department aren’t happy about the charges being dismissed either. Seven prosecutors, including the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District in New York, resigned in protest rather than obey the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) order. In his court decision, Judge Dale Ho wrote, “Everything here smacks of a bargain.” He’s inherently correct. Adams’ relationship with the Trump decision, along with the timeline of events regarding this entire corruption saga, reeks of backroom bargaining and deal-cutting. It’s important to note that the DOJ signaled that the case should be dropped back in mid-February of 2025, over a month before the case would be officially thrown out.
The two are clearly on decent terms with each other, based on Trump being the one to signal for Adams’ corruption charges to be dropped at the beginning of the year. Adams also described the President as “someone that’s finally listening to me saying that my city must be safe,” and described those who criticized the ICE sweeps that have occurred under his administration as people who were “feeding on fear” and “creating a hysteria.” These statements, coming from a man who is so possessive of New York City, yet would abandon it in order to see the President’s inauguration, are hypocritical, self-serving acts at best and dangerous at worst. In fact, Adams’ decision to skip MLK day events perfectly sums up his tenure as mayor: he will support New York City until he has a better offer on the table.
Adams’ chances of reelection are difficult to determine, given the unprecedented nature of this election cycle. In an ideal world, they would be zero. Currently, his chances sit squarely in the realm of “very unlikely.” However, based on how crowded this election is, along with the general unfavourability of the leading candidate, Former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, Adams’ chances of reelection are much higher than they should be, no matter how low they currently are.
His so-called promise to put New York’s people before politics and party is an empty one that has been broken time and time again, from blatant nepotism to dinners with friends with dubious backgrounds. At this point, nearly any candidate is a better choice.
When discussing his mayoral opponents, Adams said that they “put politics in front of the people,” which is “something that he refuses to do.” Yet he has proven time and time again that he is willing to put those in his inner circle above the people, whether it be using nepotism in government appointments, blatant conflicts of interest or support of his friends’ businesses in spite of their shady pasts. New York deserves a mayor who puts the population before the President or his partners at the clubs he frequents.
Damien Moshman, FCRH ’25, is a political science and journalism major from Princeton, N.J.
