Trump Defends Adams, Arguing Both Are Being ‘Persecuted’
The New York Times
Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat, and Donald J. Trump, the Republican former president, are strange bedfellows as both face legal challenges.
Mayor Eric Adams’s federal indictment on corruption charges has left him with few political friends, but he has found a kindred spirit and a surprisingly steadfast ally in Donald J. Trump.
The former president has repeatedly defended Mr. Adams as Election Day draws closer, arguing that they are similarly being targeted by overzealous prosecutors.
His latest show of support came on Thursday night at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner, a Catholic charity event in Manhattan that has become a near-required stop for presidential hopefuls.
“I know what it’s like to be persecuted by the D.O.J. for speaking out against open borders,” Mr. Trump said, referring to the Justice Department. “We were persecuted, Eric. I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric.”
Politics and indictments make for strange bedfellows, and it was a remarkable show of solidarity between a former Republican president and the Democratic mayor of the nation’s largest city and a liberal stronghold.
If the mayor were to be convicted and the former president were to return to the White House, Mr. Trump’s embrace of Mr. Adams has raised the prospect of a presidential pardon. Mr. Trump could also pressure the Justice Department to seek a more lenient approach at sentencing, or commute Mr. Adams’s sentence as he did in 2020 for Rod R. Blagojevich, a former Democratic governor of Illinois who was convicted of corruption.
Joanna Smith-Griffin was charged with lying to investors about revenue and her customer base, which she claimed included some of the nation’s largest school districts, including New York City’s.
Ms. Tisch, a member of a prominent New York family who has held several positions in city government, will take over the nation’s largest police department.
The verdict followed a four-day bench trial in which prosecutors detailed a violent attack that became a flashpoint in the bitter national debate over immigration policy.
Now that New York City and surrounding counties are under a drought warning, officials are asking residents to save water and help prevent more wildfires.
The return to power of President-elect Donald J. Trump, who has vowed to confront China on tariffs, has created deep uncertainty about the U.S. role in avoiding global conflicts.
G.O.P. lawmakers whose leaders have pressed to roll back transgender rights around the country moved to bar Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, from women’s rooms on Capitol Hill.
The billionaire has rapidly transformed parts of the state, shocking even development-friendly officials: “It was like, ‘Voilà, Elon is here.’”
School districts serving more than two million elementary-school children would be able to adopt a curriculum that draws on the Bible.
A developer wanted to replace parking garages with affordable apartments in Manhattan, but some residents on the Upper West Side resisted. Here’s why the housing won.
Prosecutors have had to acknowledge that a victim frightened those around him. The defense lawyers are expected to paint their client as a protector.
In scores of interviews throughout 2024, Latino, Black and Asian American voters, many of whom voted for Donald Trump, said they no longer trusted Democrats to improve the economy.