Line of the Day: Resignation in the Face of Corruption Edition
At least some people have character and are displaying it.
While I have been following the story of the resignations of DoJ attorneys for refusing to drop the Eric Adams case, I have not had time to write much as yet.
But I did want to share this portion of a chef’s kiss of a resignation letter from assistant U.S. attorney Hagan Scotten to acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove. Emphasis mine.
But any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way. If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.
To which I say: bravo!
I don’t have time for a deep dive, but I will note the following. The attempt to dismiss the case is a clear example of abuse of power by the Trump DoJ (and, let’s face facts, Trump himself, even if he didn’t give a specific, traceable order). If Trump thought Adams was innocent and wanted to save him from a “weaponized” justice system, he could just pardon him. But this business of dropping the charges so that Adams will support the Trump administration’s immigration policies is a clear attempt to leverage Adams. If Trump pardoned him, Adams might be grateful, but if charges could be reinstated at any moment, Trump would have active and ongoing power over Adams.
This is mafia-level behavior and, brazenly so.
But, you know, the Republicans are the party of law and order.
Before the end of the year Trump is going to best Warren G. Harding as the most corrupt President ever. Let’s all shout: He’s Number One!
I’m not sure how much impact it will ultimately have, but reading that resignation letter today made me feel just a little less crazy. Small victories.
A couple days ago we had a discussion at OTB on whether or not we have a constitutional crisis. Paul Campos at LGM has a good post on the subject. He extensively quotes a paywalled piece by Steven Levitsky and Lucan Way on competitive authoritarianism. This business of using a prosecution to pressure Adams into doing what the Trumpsters want is classic.
There’s no bright line between crisis and not. There’s not going to be a day with tanks in the streets, Proud Boys seizing the radio stations, and opponents, except immigrants, shipped off to concentration camps. (Most of the radio stations are already owned by Sinclair, Salem, iHeart, etc. anyway.) That’s not the way it’s done in the 21st century. Instead we’ll have slow, creeping fascism. Or if you don’t like the f word, something close enough as makes no difference. Don’t wait til the day you read the news and say, “OMG, we’re in an autocracy!”
Maybe there’s some hope of averting the worst of this if here are more Hagan Scottens than Emil Boves.
Bravo indeed!
I’m kind of wondering if Scotten didn’t see this coming a ways off. Trump has really made no secret about how he wants to abuse his prosecutorial power, which has given folks like him time to think about whether they want to be part of it or not.
Apparently Gov. Hochul has the ability to remove Mayor Adams. It’s a weird power that she is reluctant to use, for very understandable reasons, but I think we’ve hit a time when it is appropriate.
You cannot have a Mayor selling policy for personal gain, whether it be money or avoiding prosecution.
@Gustopher: If I were Gov. Hochul I would wait a bit longer. If the case is dismissed, given all the ruckus, I would bounce him. There’s still a chance, though, that the judge will refuse to dismiss.
And having the trial go forward is probably better.
@Gustopher: If she has that power, she should absolutely use it, but only after every single attempt these idiots are making to subvert justice gets dragged into the sunlight.
Let Trump think he has his win, and then pull the rug out.
The letters from Scotten and Sassoon are a tiny pinprick of light (and, it’s helpful that they clerked for Roberts and Scalia, respectively).
They did manage to coerce someone to sign the order to dismiss.
@PT: That is exactly how I felt about it.
Hochul should remove Adams today, and send the cops in to evict him from Gracie Mansion and send him back to the apartment, bedroom, and bed he shares with his son. No debate, no hesitation, no letting things play out. There’s nothing to discover. This was a blunder by the Trump admin and the Democrats should be capitalizing on it and forcing these people to double-down on their illegality.
@Jay L Gischer:
Can the judge force the DOJ to try the case?
I assume they can make the US attorneys show up and go through the motions, but they might just open with “The People* rest.” Tanking a court case is very easy for the prosecution. just don’t show any evidence or testimony at all.
*Or whatever the term is for a federal court.
@Jen:
@Modulo Myself:
What I really wonder is whether Letitia James can bring state charges.
Fascinating bit of bothsides. Bothsides have corrupt pols. Dems tend to prosecute corrupt Dems when they surface. GOPs tend to close ranks and protect corrupt GOPs. Now apparently GOPs even protect corrupt Dems. I guess it’s principal, such as it is, over party.
Let’s see how Trump’s bootlicking apologists manage to spin former Scalia and Roberts clerks — Federalist Society conservatives in good standing — calling out the open corruption and criminal lawlessness of Trump, Homan, Bondi, Bove, and Adams.
Something something woke liberal pronoun something something deep state DEI, probably.
@gVOR10:
Thugs of a feather.
@Kathy:
Rule 48. Dismissal
(a) By the Government. The government may, with leave of court, dismiss an indictment, information, or complaint. The government may not dismiss the prosecution during trial without the defendant’s consent.
Sort of. They need leave of court to dismiss the case and the Court could deny leave. Beyond that, I don’t think the court could actually force them to try the case. I mean, under the circumstances, the court should absolutely deny leave, but probably won’t.
I’m with everyone on the Hochul should remove issue. I don’t think she needs to wait for any more legal issues to crop up. It’s so blatantly corrupt, why bother. If the DOJ has to coerce prosecutors then that’s game over. What she does need to do is make sure she has buy-in from other political figures in NYC. She can probably ignore Republicans, but she better have most of the Black establishment (and as many other “important” Black people) behind her along with a good chunk of the city counsel. That’s where it’s all dicy.
@gVOR10:
Hooooray! Unity! /s
From the OP
@Jay L Gischer: As I understand the dismissal being proffered, it was dismissal without prejudice. If, as Dr. Taylor surmises, Trump thought him guilty or wanted to clear him, he could have pardoned him or, if he or the DOJ truly thought the prosecution was a baseless scam, they could have dismissed the charges with prejudice, thus preventing any later prosecution on those facts. Dismissing them without prejudice (a) leaves open the question about whether the DOJ believes there is a there there and, more importantly (b) keeps open the refiling of the same charges if the mayor steps out of line.
Other than hoping the citizens of NY would recognize that their mayor is a fully leveraged puppet of the President and oust him, I think it would be malfeasance for the Hochul not to dismiss him.
@Beth: Ethically, Hochul should remove Adams. He has extirpated his oath.
Politically, for Democrats it’s more useful to let Adams flail and remain in office as a focus of public outrage and symbol of MAGA corruption. Force NYC area Republicans to spend months answering for the Musk admin’s criminal actions.
The NYC mayoral election is 4 Nov 2025. Adams will likely not be on the ballot. He definitely won’t be on it as a Democrat at least — the primary is 24 June.
@Beth:
Thanks.
I agree the governor should remove him. Beyond that, I hope AG James can bring state charges, if there are any. Adams needs to be held to account. Otherwise for the next four years, if not longer, corruption will explode at the local level, seeing as by kissing the orange ass and offering a quid pro quo*, one can escape all consequences. Let there be a reminder of local and state consequences.
*I was going to paraphrase Diogenes vis a vis flattering Dionysus, but I feel that would have been unfair to the old tyrant.
@DK:
Yes, but I think @Kathy: has the better political answer. I think it’s way more important to look like and actually deal with corruption like this now. If she were to wait until June even the Republican retort will be, “if corruption is that bad, why didn’t you remove him back in February. You had the power. You didn’t exercise it because you’re lying about corruption. bothsides bothsides”.
I think we’re past the point of playing politics like that. I think that sort of thinking by Dems really helped Trump. Maybe not decisively, but I’m willing to wager it had an effect on a lot of people. Also, if the election isn’t until November, so much shit will have happened by then, everyone will forget.
Much better to make sure She has her ducks somewhat in a row here and then take him out now.
@Joe: Yes, Joe, I knew those things. I think that in the end, if I were in Hochul’s shoes, I would dismiss Adams. But there are politics to line up, as said above, AND, a bit more drama to play out.
I mean, if the judge should refuse to dismiss, that’s going to make more headlines. Which draws more attention to this situation. Which is good. Very good. This argues against resolving it swiftly. No, let this become a drip, drip, drip about wholesale corruption in the DoJ.
That’s why I would let it play out a bit more.
I have been wanting to ask James a question along this line. Trump says we now own Gaza and the Palestinians say they aren’t leaving. If Trump orders our troops to remove all of them it’s clearly ethnic cleansing and illegal. What will troops, in your opinion, do if they face that situation. Way too often, IMO, senior leadership has folded. Will they carry it out, refuse, resign?
Steve
Here’s to you, Hagan Scotten.
Honor est illi qui stat pro jure.
@Beth:
By contrast, I think the legal system’s justified attempts to disqualify Trump are what helped him, although it was the right thing to do on the merits and the ethics. Efforts to rid the body politic of thugs like Adams and Trump through anything other the ballot box or self-disqualification (resignation) just allows them to scream “witch hunt” and play the victim.
Granted, Adams has no cult a la Trump, and New York City is not rural Pennsylvania. So you’re right in that Hochul probably wouldn’t face the kind of blowback heaped upon Trump’s legal interrogators. But just probably. Because, apparently, many Americans everywhere of all backgrounds fall for this poor little MAGA martyr act.
@Steve:
My concern with “resign” is that, eventually, that leaves the decision in the hands of someone too cowardly or too wicked to uphold the law. I believe that, across the entire government, we’re going to need to see a whole lot more “refuse” if we’re going to avoid utter disaster. Who knows, it might even cause enough GOP senators to grow enough of a vestigial spine that Congress can… nah, who am I kidding?
What Joe said. Trump and Homan have effectively said “Be a good boy for the rest of your term and we won’t press the prosecution. Step out of line and it’s back on.” The abuse of prosecutorial discretion could not be more obvious, which I suspect is the point. It’s a warning to other public officials that this administration does not intend to play by the old rules.
It would not even shock me if Homan took up the House Republican demand to deport Ilhan Omar. The MAGA faithful would be delirious with joy. Who’s going to prevent it?
This is monumentally unsurprising. Anyone who looks deeply into the Trump family’s history will learn that Fred Trump had the knack of putting NYC politicians into his pocket. Like father, like son.
@DrDaveT: I agree about the resignations in terms of emptying out the place but also would note that the only way to bring real public scrutiny on these things is via resignations.
@PT: Successful protests are built from millions of small resistances.