Eric Adams, the Mayor at the Heart of Donald Trump’s Attempt to Reshape the Justice Department

Featuring Michael S. Weinstein

February 21, 2025

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Eric Adams, mayor of New York City, was once a rising star in the Democratic Party, a former police captain dedicated to confronting violent crime who was popular with middle-class Black and Latino voters.

But his reputation began to wane months after taking office as federal authorities investigated him for corruption. Now it is in tatters, as critics accuse him of trying to save his own skin by selling out to President Donald Trump.

“He’s put New York City up for sale and Trump is the highest bidder,” said Michael Weinstein, a former Department of Justice trial attorney who is now head of white-collar defence at law firm Cole Schotz.

The Bove memo sparked outrage among legal observers, who said Trump was using the DoJ to advance his political agenda. The department was signalling it wanted to “centralise every decision in every investigation and in every prosecutorial matter throughout the country”, Weinstein said.

“Each of the US Attorneys’ Offices is feeling as though its independence is being challenged and its discretion restricted,” he added, calling it “a bad precedent for the country”.

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