The app for independent voices
Removing Adams
I no longer live in New York City, so the fate of the criminal mayor (who was not in my list of 5 choices in the NYC automatic runoff ballot) is mostly just a passing interest. I understand the governor has been threatened with identity politics based revolt nysun.com/article/how-m… (okay, a metaphor for political chaos, not an actual revolt) if she removes the most unDemocratic Democratic mayor of most of our lifetimes.
The link (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J…) I’ve posted at the beginning of this note is to the Wikipedia page of the (as far as I know) last New York City official removed by the governor. In a brief read, it should become apparent that it is settled law that the removal is final and subterfuge to undo it won’t work.
Whether Adams is prosecuted is up to the courts and prosecutors. It appears the court is not as easy to push around as the current administration thinks, commondreams.org/news/e…but in any case, his alleged crimes were allegedly committed in Manhattan and possibly Brooklyn, so non-prosecution by the feds is not necessarily the end of the matter. The governor is likely wise to avoid meddling into the same matters these prosecutors are considering.
The remaining rationale for removing Adams rests on the quid pro quo side of the bargain that at least 7 prosecutors refused to take part in cnn.com/2025/02/14/poli…On the one side of q-p-q is the federal government (quid) gets New York City cooperation for non-prosecution of Adams (quo). That is a federal matter that looks a lot like blackmail or bribery. Oddly a recent erroneous Supreme Court ruling en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T…would seem to make it hard to prosecute the principle on the federal government side (I wonder whether they even thought about that).
BUT on the other side, Adams (quid) gets non prosecution for his exercise of direction to various NYC agencies (quo). This also looks a lot like bribery. Although this sort of crime is a federal crime, it is also a state crime, which pretty clearly falls in the jurisdiction of the Manhattan prosecutor and, for removal purposes, the power of the governor.
Perhaps the governor will bide her time until she has evidence of Adams taking an overt action of this form. It would seem to be a much cleaner way of getting to the removal while avoiding interfering with the still open prosecution.
