. >> charges against new york mayor eric adams. the doj scrambling to get someone. >> to. >> sign off on the. >> dismissal after a seventh prosecutor quit in protest. also this. >> hour, vice president. >> jd vance. >> meets with ukrainian. >> president volodymyr. >> zelenskyy in. munich after. >> berating european. >> leaders and likening. >> them to. >> cold war. >> tyrants. >> vance turning on allies who are increasingly worried about president trump's push. >> for peace with vladimir. putin. and angry. >> protests as the trump administration. >> fires federal. >> employees by the thousands. health care workers are. >> now being. >> targeted in a move being dubbed the valentine's day massacre. welcome to our. >> viewers in the. >> united states and around the world. will blitzer is off. >> i'm pamela. >> brown and. you're in the situation room. >> and we. >> begin with the intensifying battle over the integrity of the u.s. justice department under president trump. we're standing by to see if the doj is able to take a key step fo

, in return for adams. collaboration on border policy. a mass exodus is occurring within doj, including in the southern district of new york, arguably the doj's most prestigious outpost. seven doj prosecutors have quit in the last three days. rather than carry out an order given by deputy attorney general emil bove, who happens to be trump's former criminal defense attorney, to drop the corruption case against adams. so yesterday, beauvais and two other doj officials, they signed it themselves. many of these players are not yet household names, but this is a story with legs. it's important and it warrants a deep dive. pam bondi was the former florida attorney general. she's now the u.s. attorney general. her deputy is emil bove, the interim u.s. attorney for the southern district had been danielle sassoon and the lead prosecutor working the case was hagan scotten. beauvais directed sassoon to drop the corruption case against adams. the corruption charges were related to his receipt of $123,000 in travel per

adams isn't off the hook.e's essentially been given ten months to perform for his freedom to perform for donald trump. and what might the trump administration want from the mayor of america's largest city? well, from the justice department memo ordering s.d.n.y to drop the charges, quote, the pending prosecution has unduly restricted the mayor's ability to devote full attention and resources to illegal immigration. oh, i see. so, sure. sure enough. got it. and sure enough, today eric adams met with donald trump's point man on mass deportations, and mayor adams promptly announced that he's going to start allowing federal immigration agents into the city's biggest jail complex. even though there is a city law explicitly against that. interesting how much he wants to please donald trump right now, right? i wonder why that is. but here's why. today was a six resignation day at the us justice department. because even though the acting deputy attorney general, trump's personal lawyer, emil bove, ordered that the cha

adams isn't off the hook. he's essentially been given ten months to perform for his freedom to perform for donald trump. and what might the trump administration want from the mayor of america's largest city? well, from the justice department memo ordering s.d.n.y to drop the charges, quote, the pending prosecution has unduly restricted the mayor's ability to devote full attention and resources to illegal immigration. oh, i see. sure. sure enough. got it. and sure enough, today eric adams met with donald trump's point man on mass deportations, and mayor adams promptly announced that he's going to start allowing federal immigration agents into the city's biggest jail complex. even though there is a city law explicitly against that. interesting how much he wants to please donald trump right now, right? i wonder why that is. but here's why. today was a six resignation day at the us justice department. because even though the acting deputy attorney general, trump's personal lawyer, emil bove, ordered that the charg

and adams's attorneys. but they disagreed one time.ime was when the judge asked adams about his. security clearance. and this is a part the judge. >> said, is mayor adams currently. >> in the process of obtaining his security clearance. >> or does that hinge on the resolution. >> of the motion? adams's attorney says it hinges. >> on the. >> resolution of the motion, and at that time, beauvais interjected, just a correction. i don't think it hinges on that. it hinges his security clearance because the security clearance issue is another executive power. so in that moment when he's asking that question, he's undermining the stated rationale that they were given. so that here's a judge who is being very deferential, very cautious, but he's not tipping his hand. >> yeah. and andrew, the judge actually had it emerged and the judge questioning the of course donald trump can just give him a security clearance anytime he wants to, just like he did with jared kushner. it's completely within donald trump's power. >> yeah. so that. >> once it's t

and now that adams has the time, i'm sure he's bringing a new laser focus to the job. >> mayor adamsull, managing the day to day business of the city. >> how are you? >> today, he's taking some time for some r&r. angela performed a ten minute laser hair removal procedure. adams spoke with me exclusively during the process. >> when i'm able to come into the community and say, okay, we did this policy, we get these millions of dollars, and now let's go see the results. >> jordan: you don't have to do an interview right now! i mean, should we go? this feels like a private moment for you. i thought i wanted more transparency in my government, but now i'm thinking perhaps some secrecy is for the best. so while eric adams might waste his work day getting pampered at local businesses, we're doing the hard work to get to the bottom of this story, starting with our very own grace kuhlenschmidt. grace! [cheers and applause] grace, what's the latest? >> jordan, the adams administration is happy to avoid federal charges, but it complicates his re-election campaign, because democrats may punish h

choke chain. >> that is being put on eric adams.hat just has. >> to be something that. >> the law forbids. >> andrew, the judge is extremely limited here. it would be extraordinary for him to try to prevent the dismissal at this point. but, i mean, i have seen judges in hearings like this where no one feels as though they were pushed around by the judge, but the judge is actually just sitting there collecting, you know, all this crazy information that he needs to use against you because he went down some roads that were utterly insane. you cannot indict, you know, the new york city police commissioner, in effect, you cannot indict a candidate anywhere in america as long as they're a candidate. i mean, he really and the judge did not test him on just how far do you want that statement to go? the judge left them there as indefinite statements that could be just as wild as they sounded. yeah. >> you know, i. >> was reminded of the presidential immunity case where there was the famous line in the court of appeals, which is, are you sayi

it's a place for eric adams. adams and trump border czar tom homan deny any quid pro quo here -- we drop the charges, you help us round up immigrants. but homan kind of let it slip with the fox and the friends. >> you are talking about the new alliance between ice and adames. >> if he doesn't come through, i will be back in new york city. we will be in his office saying where is the agreement we came to. >> stephen: ah ha! their agreement! but 'up his butt'? sir, he is the mayor of new york. you do not go up eric adams' butt. unless you stop in istanbul first. we've got a great show for you tonight, my guests are george clooney and "reacher" himself, alan ritchson. but when we come back, meanwhile! join me, won't you? ♪ ♪ for all those making it big out there... ...shouldn't your mobile service be able to keep up with you? get wifi speeds up to a gig at home and on the go. introducing powerboost, only from xfinity mobile. now that's big. xfinity internet customers, cut your mobile bill in half vs. t-mobile, veriz

adam's attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that adams would be in a position to assist with the department's priorities. only if the indictment were dismissed. i remain baffled by the rushed and superficial process by which this decision was reached, based on our understanding of the facts. is she right? >> you know, jim, i'm. i'm a former assistant u.s. >> attorney. >> and i have covered the justice department for a long time. there has never been. anything like what the justice department did with the eric adams case. um. miss sassoon is exactly right. um, this process whereby a pending case was dismissed not because the evidence was sufficient. insufficient, not because the prosecutors did something wrong, but because the defendant is of some political use to the president is just something that is a perversion of what the justice department is supposed to stand for. and it is completely understandable why there have been resignations in protest. >> i wonder what the consequences are because we've already seen this justice department. well, drop

geoff: the deputy ag cited the need for adams to help with donald trump's immigration policy and adams and immigration czar said if he doesn't come through i will be up his butt where the hell is the agreement? this isn't subtle -- >> i don't know if that agreement means the dropping of a prosecution. here's how we can help new york. there is a law and order crisis in new york and adams wants to prolong his political career. primary is coming up and wants to clean it up. it may involve the quid pro quo but it could mean here's what i will do and open up likers and send you more law enforcement -- i don't know what the agreement might be. but adams wants to work with this administration on the illegal immigration problem. geoff: in your view this is not a fundamental breach of justice? >>> there is no evidence a prosecutor would say that. there are allegations and you could make a case, but on the face of what has come out, deuling letters and what have you, this is a disagreement on prosecutorial discretion. geoff: the trump administration may have frozen aid without congressional appr

so jackson, adams. and then the third place vote getter, william crawford, have their names submitted to the house. well, there are a couple of interesting wrinkles here. one crawford had suffered a very debilitating stroke. the previous year. in fact, a lot of people believe that he was close to death and was on his deathbed and would never recover. so he's really not a viable option. and the other interesting wrinkle is that henry clay, who came in fourth. he is going to have his name submitted for the presidential election in the house. but he is of the house. and so, therefore, he has a lot of to shape and direct potentially what happens in the house in the early part of 1825. adams and clay meet together allegedly, according to jackson means at least they strike a agreement in which adams agrees to appoint clay's secretary of state. if clay will work in the house to win him that house election and so win the house election takes place on adams wins a lot of jack soni and supporters like to that mee

>> that's what i would call a very uncomfortable and nervous laugh on adams, on adams part there.but i mean, just to pause on this for a moment, there were mass resignations because of this suspected quid pro quo. and then they literally went on television and announced that quid pro quo on fox. if you felt a little crazy watching that, well, you're not alone. that's how i felt. it was a threat to make sure someone carries out their end of the mob like deal. that's what we just heard. there is exactly the kind of thing you'd want to stop if you were a leader on the hunt for corruption and fraud, as they say they are. but instead of stopping it, the administration is perpetrating it. they are labeling things they don't like as corrupt, so they can go after them while they cultivate and celebrate real corruption when it serves them. i guess if they do it or their friends do it, it's not corruption. and if you don't just have to, you don't just have to take my word for it, obviously. take a look at this post from trump yesterday where he said, quote, he who saves his country does not

now a flurry of democrats are calling on adams to step down.alling on new york governor , democrat kathy hochul, to remove him from office. which she would have the authority to do. for doj officials, the so-called thursday afternoon massacre continued today. the line prosecutor who handled the adams case quit with a defined message refusing his motion to dismiss the case. he wrote "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. reportedly he was able to find a doj lawyer willing to sign the motion this afternoon. for the pbs news hour, william brangham. >> joining me to discuss the people within the department of justice is jessica roth. former federal product user -- prosecutor for new york and professor at the cardozo school of law. welcome back to the news hour. off. it looks like the department of justice found someone willing to move forward with dismissing the charges against mayor adams. what happens now? is a judge required to accept the dism

so jackson, adams. and then the third place vote getter, william crawford, have their names submitted to the house. well, there are a couple of interesting wrinkles here. one crawford had suffered a very debilitating stroke. the previous year. in fact, a lot of people believe that he was close to death and was on his deathbed and would never recover. so he's really not a viable option. and the other interesting wrinkle is that henry clay, who came in fourth. he is going to have his name submitted for the presidential election in the house. but he is of the house. and so, therefore, he has a lot of to shape and direct potentially what happens in the house in the early part of 1825. adams and clay meet together algedly, according to jackson means at least they strike a agreement in which adams agrees to appoint clay's secreryf state. if clay will work in the house to win him that house election and so win the house election takes place on adams wins a lot of jack soni and supporters like to that meeting a

that is what kathy hochul is saying, cause to remove mayor adams are growing louder. this was yesterday in new york city. people had signs and were chanting. people say they want him gone. he is accused of making a deal with the justice department to drop his own criminal case if he would enforce immigration policies. you talked to adams and tom homan on "fox and friends" and he dee ni -- denied making any deal and said this prosecution is based on politics. she has her role, i have my role. throughout this entire ordeal, torment that my family and i had to endure for something i did not do, i did not do anything wrong. i said my attorney will handle the legal part and i'll handle running the city. >> asked a judge to drop the charges, this comes as four deputy mayors say they are out of city hall and don't want to be part of this and top doj officials stepped down last week. who would take over? how would that play out? if adams is asked to resign, the public advocate williams would take over as acting mayor until a special election. yesterday mayor adams was pushing

with adams? et cetera.ring to future efforts by this doj, which is in power for four years to do, quote unquote, revenge prosecutions? et cetera. >> you know, that's a great question, ari. and when i start out at the beginning of the show and i talked about the tragedy, that's another dimension to it, because the southern district of new york has built up a tremendous well of goodwill and trust with the judiciary, so that an assistant u.s. attorney who walks into that courtroom and says something most every single judge banks on exactly every word. and this throws a wrench in that works. and i think that the judges, given what is they're seeing going on here for every you know, it's this is normal to think that that's going to cause them pause and to be more skeptical of what those assistant u.s. attorneys are saying. and i think that's that's a sad tragedy. yeah. >> all really good points david kelly across this breaking story. such an experienced voice. thank you. al sharpton sticks around. we have more c

the judge said any threats and adams said no. the judge is seemingly skeptical over some of the things that have been said and appeared in writing thus far. that's what we know so far. >> john: it's because opponents of adams are saying its a quid pro quo here and the dea drop the charges in exchange for his cooperation of the deportation plans president trump has. adams said in no way, shape, or form did that happen and acknowledged the charges are being dropped without prejudice. that means they can bring them back. he arrived at the courthouse to a cascade of booze which is kind of unusual -- billing. in a town where celebrities of all kinds can walk around unbothered there is a group booing him spontaneous or organic how does that happen? >> sandra: we will let our listeners decide to jog great to be with you think you be joining us everyone i'm sandra smith. >> john: on john robert spear the story with martha begins now. >> martha: thank you guys it's a big story has national invocations. i'm martha maccallum this is the sto

she added adams attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that adams woulddepartment's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. end quote. now, again, it's worth noting sassoon is a registered republican, a member of the right leaning federalist society, and clerked for the late conservative supreme court justice antonin scalia. adams denies the dismissal for his charges were in exchange for his cooperation with the trump administration's immigration enforcement. but on friday morning, adams sat right next to the trump border czar, tom homan, for an interview on fox news where homan said this. >> if he doesn't come through, i'll be back in. >> new york city. >> and we won't be sitting on a couch. i'll be in his office. i'll be up his butt saying, where the hell is the agreement we came to? >> that was a short clip, but boy said a lot got said there, including adams body language and the fact that he's yucking it up next to the border czar after the department of justice has canceled his prosecution. adams is both denying that this is a q

and i am a democrat, but i see it plain as day here when tom homan appeared with eric adams, mayor adams governor's office. one of the things that governor is bringing out what is that the quid pro quo here? adams is facing serious indictment and all of a sudden the department of justice decided orders from the white house or whatever to drop the case. then adam suddenly cooperating on immigration. at the suggestion is quid pro quo. here is what adam said about last week on "fox & friends" statement. i think one of the top neutrality attorneys in the country. imagine going on the side and the only way mayor adams is going to assist in immigration, which i was calling for since 2022 is if you drop the charges. that is quid pro quo, that is a crime. >> john: he says he didn't do it that he has had a change of heart when it comes to illegal immigration. no question. >> we have common sense with democrats are more conservative and want public safety. we have worked with the mayor and we said you can do executive orders. we opened the i.c.e. focus on rikers island, the jail complex. he was lo

beauvais, with eric adams, counsel and members of my office. eric adams. urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that adams would be in a position to assist with the department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. mr. beauvais admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion. andrew weissman there is a similar footnote in volume two of robert mueller's obstruction volume. don mcgahn tells the story either he or his chief of staff, annie donaldson, tell a story to mueller's investigators on the obstruction side about how donald trump didn't like lawyers who took notes, and he kept saying, why are you taking notes? what are you writing down? why is that significant? >> there is no reason in god's green earth for the person who is the deputy attorney general to say to federal prosecutors at a meeting that they cannot take notes and they need to if they have to collect them, if there is nothing going on in that meeting that you're not em

adams's attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that adams would be in a position to insist with the with the department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. mr. bovÉ admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the end, at the meeting's conclusion. taking notes in meetings is what lawyers do. they take notes during phone calls. they take notes all the time. you want your lawyer taking notes all the time. why do why did emil bove fear those notes? in his reply to daniel sasson today, emil bove claimed that he seized those notes because he's afraid of leaks. in that case, no trump lawyer in the justice department can ever be taken. notes. according to the above rules on notes. danielle soon revealed that there was more to come in the case against eric adams. we have proposed a superseding indictment that would add an obstruction conspiracy count based on evidence that adams destroyed and instructed others to destroy evidence and provide false information to the f

adams i mean, i don't know, but i think it's that he did want leverage over adams. it reminds me, i think i said this yesterday of the mafia case. i did. you know, it's much better to have someone who you can kind of pull the puppet strings on than to have someone who just owes you a favor. >> no one goes anywhere. and to the rest point, mayor adams saying publicly today that there was no quid pro quo. and yet this morning he sat right there over on fox news, cozy, cozy with trump border czar tom homan on the president's favorite morning news show. homan, describing where he will be in terms of adams's anatomy if he doesn't stay in line answering some of these questions for us some of these questions for us so we don't have to wonder. you know what's brilliant? boring. think about it. boring makes vacations happen, early retirements possible, and startups start up. that's why pnc bank strives to be boring with your money. the pragmatic, calculated kind of boring. for more than a decade farxiga has been trusted again and again, and again. ♪far-xi-ga♪ ♪far-xi-ga♪ ask

i think it's that he did want leverage over adam. it reminds me, i think i said this yesterday of the mafia case. i did. >> then. >> as the. >> vice president. >> picks. >> a fight with. >> european allies, new. >> republican outrage. >> over rookie mistakes on the. >> world stage. >> president trump. >> will not allow. anyone to turn. >> uncle sam. >> into uncle sucker. >> and four weeks into. >> the second. >> term. >> the evidence. >> that the. >> trump power. >> grab can be stopped. >> we have breaking news. donald trump has ceded control of the presidency. >> to elon musk. >> when all in. >> starts right now. >> good evening from. >> new york. >> i'm chris hayes. >> we are right now in the. >> midst of the biggest scandal at the. >> department of justice. since watergate in the 1970s. so far. seven prosecutors have. >> quit the doj. >> in protest. >> of trump's corrupt. >> deal with new. york city's. democratic mayor eric adams. >> in what can. >> really best. >> be described as a blatant quid. >> pro quo. >> the charges in mayo

adding rather than be rewarded. >> adams advocacy. should be. >> called out for. >> what it. >> is an. >> improper offer. >> of immigration. enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case. now a lawyer. >> for. >> mayor adams. >> denies those allegations. saying in part, the idea. >> that there was a quid pro quo is a total lie. >> we offered. >> nothing and the. department asked nothing of us. >> but i got. >> to say, that's complicated by. >> the letter. >> that he himself sent to sassoon back on monday, which we covered on the show, in which he ordered her to drop the charges explicitly so that adams can more effectively enforce trump's immigration policy. because. as beauvais argues. >> the pending. >> prosecution has. >> unduly restricted mayor. >> adams ability to. >> devote full. >> attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime. >> that escalated. >> under the policies of the prior administration. crime, by the way, is down in new york considerably over the last few years. now. >> realizin

adams attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that adams would be in a position to assist with the department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. mr. beauvais admonished a member of my team who took notes during the meeting and directed the collection of the notes at the meeting's conclusion. i mean, that's pretty right there. and you're telling lawyers they can't take notes. that's what they do. and then taking them, seizing them soon doesn't stop there. when she's telling what happened, she reveals a stunning new allegation against mayor adams, writing, quote, we have a proposed superseding indictment, meaning one that's even bigger with more charges than the one already out there. that would add an obstruction conspiracy count based on evidence that adams destroyed and instructed others to destroy evidence and provide false information to the fbi, and that would add further factual allegations regarding his participation in a fraudulent straw donor scheme. so then the acting attorney general, emil bove, responded to susan w

adams. feds drop case so he can fight migrant crime we need him alive.in the corner see that plus? prosecutor resigns in protest. that is an image of danielle says sown. she is the interim u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york she did not think she should be ordered to drop the charges so she resigned and essentially said they dropped the charges for quid pro quo. we'll drop your charges but you got to help us with the migrant crime in new york city. she quit. and then two people in the public integrity unit at the doj quit. three others after that. so, the whole suggestion is this was a deal that adams struck with the trump administration, okay. we're going to get you off the hook meeting with tom homan. we can refile those charges any time we want so you better help us. >> brian: lt. governor delgado position on adams the new york deserves a mail accountable to the people not to the president. the acting attorney general said i'm not saying he is innocent or guilty, it's not about the case it's how this effects the election. this seems li

this feels like it is bigger than just eric adams. >> this goes way beyond adams.es really to the justice department as a whole, and make no mistake, in my view, the deputy attorney general was trying to send a message throughout the justice department that people need to follow the orders and if they don't follow the orders, they need to leave the department. >> maurice: and scott, those 93 federal prosecutors around the country you mentioned, how are they reacting to all of this tonight? >> reporter: maurice, this commanded their attention all day. they watched. they exchanged text messages. this is all so disorienting for them. there are a couple hundred public corruption cases prosecuted in states across the country each year. sheriffs, school administrators, mayors accused of misconduct. it's unclear if they have to check with the white house now before some of them prosecute the case in front of them. >> john: scott, how does this adams business end from the justice department standpoint? >> reporter: just after the doors closed here tonight, john, they final

adams isn't in the clear yet.to court on wednesday to give his give him their rationale for dropping the case against adams. at issue is whether that decision was made in the public interest, or whether it was done as a personal favor to adams to get him to cooperate with the trump administration's anti-immigration crusade. in the meantime, new york city's governance is being thrown into a bit of chaos. four top deputy mayors resigned yesterday in protest of the department of justice's decision. as many top democrats in the city and the state call on adams to resign, saying he's lost the confidence of new yorkers. there have also been calls for new york governor kathy hochul to remove adams from office, a power she has under the state's constitution. hochul addressed that power in a statement yesterday, saying, quote, overturning the will of the voter is a serious step that should not be taken lightly. that said, the alleged conduct at city hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and canno

so is adams's. but asked tonight about this entire affair and trump pleaded ignorance about it. >> the u.s. attorney. >> has resigned over. >> the doj's. >> request to drop the case into eric adams. did you personally request the justice department to drop that case? >> i know nothing about it. that u.s. attorney was actually fired. i don't know if he or she resigned, but that u.s. attorney was fired. >> we are pleased to welcome roy wood jr. back to the table in our fifth seat. the second season of have i got news for you premieres this saturday. but we're going to start with the two lawyers at the table here. one of whom i should, i should disclose, is a friend of mayor adams. but jeffrey toobin, this is extraordinary because in part, so many now of these u.s. attorneys and federal lawyers have said, i'm not touching this. i think we're up to five resignations now of people who have been asked to drop these charges and won't do it. >> this is a travesty. what has gone on? eric adams was indicted.

eric adams, when he ran, he was more progressive.me more moderate because he has seen how expensive it is to house these illegal migrants in new york city. and he said he wants to find common ground and work with this new administration because new york city has been forced to shoulder the burden of a national humanitarian crisis. he said 230,000 migrants have come to our city at the cost of $7 billion with little help from the previous administration. >> brian: what is happening is adams is on the outs, you know, he was indicted. that was lifted. and because of that, the district attorney has stepped aside. >> steve: u.s. attorney. >> brian: u.s. attorney i should say stepped aside. so she left yesterday. okay? now, yesterday, the governor was on another network said she is considering getting rid of adams. she could fire him. >> steve: she could. >> brian: fire him as mayor. if aoc had her way yesterday she called on adams to leave. they don't like each other. we will probably ask him correctly. that's how it is. there is another s

in exchange for adams cooperation with his plan, something adams has seemingly been angling for. i mean, as we all watch this happen, right? he flew down to mar a lago to meet trump last month. so when beauvais ordered the charges to be dropped this week, it seemed nakedly obvious what was happening. and now we know trump's own prosecutor thought exactly what we did. you may be wondering, where was the mayor of new york? where was he today as all this unfolded? well, i'll tell you what he's doing. he was doing exactly what donald trump wants him to be doing. first, adams met with trump's so-called border czar earlier today. shortly after, in a reversal of the city's long standing sanctuary city policies, adams announced this afternoon he would allow trump's federal ice agents into the rikers island prison complex. and trump's border czar isn't exactly hiding the fact that he told adams to do so. >> so i don't know if today was some good things. i left today with a plan to incorporate some other things we're putting in place. i'm asking give us a presence back in rikers island. th

adams will. >> do whatever.p wants. >> and if you look. >> at the last page of that letter, he actually says that eric. >> adams will. >> act in. >> tandem with donald trump. >> that is not what the people. >> of new. >> york elected eric adams for. we elected him to be mayor and an independent mayor for all the people of new york. we did not elect donald trump. and it's the position of common. >> cause that. >> eric adams should not be. >> the mayor. >> of. new york if he's going to be under the thumb of donald trump. >> well. >> we'll see what the governor does. >> we'll see. >> what this judge does. >> in this case. >> lots to follow. >> dick ackerman. >> thank you. >> so much for coming. >> in. >> and making. >> your case. >> helping us. >> understand the. >> perspective of you. >> and many others on. >> this issue. appreciate it. up next. >> here on. >> ana cabrera reports the. >> key questions. >> investigators are. >> digging into about. >> that plane. >> crash in toronto. >> where everyone. >> miraculous

eric adams. manhattan's u.s.orney daniel sassoon forcefully telling trump's new attorney general, pam bondi, that the deal to drop the charges was an improper offer and quite expressly a quid pro quo being carried out by the white house. so that's happening, and we'll have much more on it coming up soon. but we begin tonight with the bait and switch. even as grocery prices are soaring, despite trump's promises to lower them starting on day one of his second presidency, there is heightened fear and anxiety across the country as elon musk, the world's richest unelected south african oligarch who despite his own questionable immigration story, has used his twisted version of twitter to weaponize anti-immigrant hysteria, anti-semitism and even racist science, and bought his way into the oval office, where he quite literally stands over the elected president of the united states. and he's now taking a buzzsaw to american democracy and gutting services that millions of americans rely on, burning our government to the g

quoting now, adams has argued in substance, and mr. bove appears prepared to concede that adams should receive leniency for federal crimes solely because he occupies an important public position and can use that position to assist in the administration's policy priorities. what's more, she recounts a meeting at which she suggests that bove did not want anyone having a record of what was actually discussed. quoting again from her letter, adams attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that adams would be in a position to assist with the department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. mr. bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion. so it seems like they confiscated the attorney's notes. that wasn't the only bombshell from sassoon, who, we should note, has some very conservative credentials. she's listed as a contributor to the conservative federalist society, and she clerked for the la

. >> for of mayor eric adams. top deputies resigned yesterday, days after the former u.s. attorney in manhattan and six other federal prosecutors also resigned in protest. they claim the justice department agreed to drop bribery and fraud charges against adams in exchange for the mayor cooperating with president trump's immigration crackdown. >> there is no one who believes that this wasn't a quid pro quo. if it wasn't a quid pro quo, why did all of those folks in the department of justice? why did the acting u.s. attorney, who had been appointed by the trump administration, why would they have resigned? >> adams says there was no quid pro quo. >> you have departures. >> this happens in his career. i must continue to lead, not, you know, based on my successes, what i've done, but what i have overcome. >> but now, the new york city council speaker claiming this administration no longer has the ability to effectively govern with eric adams as mayor and governor kathy hochul, who has the power to remove the mayor, sa

but it was embarrassing, i think, for adams.were scheduled to appear this week with new york's public advocate, jumaane williams, who has called on adams to resign. and who were he to resign? he would then be the mayor. right. so what happens if what are you concerned about, if adams actually serves out his term as he says he's going to, and then he decides to run again as a democrat with all of this sitting, you know, in a fox news interview right next to tom homan, the border czar. >> yeah. i think that the public advocate, jumaane williams, has done a good job of trying to balance the conversation between innocent until proven guilty, and now we're starting to see a debacle. this is becoming a circus for the city of new york. and people did not vote for eric adams, who seems to be half, you know, republican, half democrat, maybe with donald trump, maybe not. that's not what folks are looking for. and so when it's time, if he does choose to run for office again, i think he's going to see that a lot of support that he's had, he

the corruption case against new york mayor eric adams. the formal motion filed by a career prosecutor in washington after a stand off in new york with prosecutors who refused to go along. the lead earn penning a blistering resignation letter laying into trump-appointed doj brass saying the case was distracting adams to his full attention on immigration and crime. writing no system of ordered liberty can allow the government to dismiss charges or bring them again to induce an elected official to supports it policy objectives. if no lawyer is willing to give him that advice i imagine you will. the pressure adams faces on full display as the mayor and trump's border czar appeared this morning on fox. >> if he does not come through i will be back in new york city. i will be in his office up his butt saying where the hell is the agreement we came to. >> adams pushing back on the idea of any quid pro quo saying i want to be crystal clear with new yorkers saying i never offered nor did anyone any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to

adams y su abogado niegan que hubieran ofrecido el intercambio.nd. >> ice we'll be back on rikers island to deal with the criminal aspect of investigation. they also going to be embedded in our game and criminal task force on. >> crÍticos afirman que adams estÁ violando la polÍtica santuario de la ciudad. >> estamos rotundamente opuesto a cambiar las leyes santuarios. entonces Él Él no puede hacerlo sin el concejo municipal. >> adams anunciÓ el cierre de seis albergues para inmigrantes. dijo que le instruyÓ a sus agentes que no entorpezcan las labores de ice y afirmÓ que ninguna otra municipalidad ha lidiado con el peso de 230.000 personas que llegaron solo con lo que llevaban puesto. >> new workers aren't safe and eric adams is going to keep new york safe. >> los neoyorquinos no estaban seguros, pero ahora adams va a asegurar la ciudad, dijo hoy en la cadena fox. la nueva secretaria de justicia apoyo del gobierno republicano a un alcalde que los demÓcratas de nueva york, dicen ya no consideran de los suyos. cristina londoÑo noticias telemundo. >>

the latest to quit top adams prosecutor, hagan scotten clerked for chief justice john roberts. he's a decorated combat veteran and was a rising star in the prestigious southern district. in fact, still up on the justice department website, six pages of press releases on important cases he's been involved with, including the successful corruption prosecution of the fbi's former new york head of counterintelligence. in his resignation letter today, scotten took the acting deputy ag to task, calling out bove, who has been at the center of this legal storm, for seeking the dismissal of charges against mayor adams. but in a way that could revive them if adams doesn't do the administration's bidding, he writes, quote, no system of ordered liberty can allow the government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives. he goes on, 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 el

and the case against adams goes away. what does that do to the file as sochi was describing at doj, the prosecutors that helped put these cases together and then potentially also other politicians out there that may be taking calls from folks overseas seeking to offer them all sorts of luxurious gifts. >> it. the chilling effect cannot be overstated when you have people who are being fired either. mass firings, as suggested at the fbi, directed by the white house, or selected firings across doj of prosecutors who worked on cases involving donald trump. what you have at the end of that is a public integrity section that is not going to take on cases that may touch officials who are connected to power in washington, which is exactly what they exist for at their highest level. fbi agents who were not going to want to work on national security matters or matters involving political corruption. you're basically degrading these agencies, turning one into the the ministry of justice and the other into the secret police. if you c

adams attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that adams would be in a position to assist with the department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. mr. beauvais admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion. end quote. yesterday, danielle sassoon reported to the world what she believed to be a quid pro quo meeting between eric adams team and the trump administration to help trump with his immigration enforcement priorities here in new york city. and this morning, the border czar, tom homan, said this of adams. >> if he doesn't come. >> through. >> i'll be back. >> in new york city and we. >> won't be sitting on a couch. i'll be in his office up, up his butt saying, where the hell is the agreement? we came to. >> quid pro quo. we've come full circle from the first impeachment of donald trump for trying to extort ukraine's then president elect zelensky to hurt joe biden's successful 2020 presidential campaign in exchange for security assista

as eric adams, the defendant and mayor of new york, laughs along. now, that resignation i mentioned said, quote, adams attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo. and during the meeting, the deputy ag, as i mentioned, then admonished a member of the doj prosecution team who was taking notes and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion. that matters because it is both unusual and incriminating. you don't seize your own notes from your own teammates like you did something wrong, unless you're worried you did something wrong. and these are all lawyers. they all know how things work. but remember, in a proper and honest prosecution, when you have a meeting, you always take notes because you want to have very clear record evidence. they have an open case against this defendant. they have we now know a second indictment plan that was going to allege other obstruction by this defendant adams. and so you're going to be very meticulous when the doj, the people in charge start gathering up notes to, i guess, hide or d