Midday News: Mayor Adams Denies Striking Deal with DOJ, NY Plans Ronkonkoma Rail Expansion, and Paul McCartney Holds Surprise NYC Show

Title: Midday News: Mayor Adams Denies Striking Deal with DOJ, NY Plans Ronkonkoma Rail Expansion, and Paul McCartney Holds Surprise NYC Show.

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Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC Now, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. It's Wednesday, February 12th. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill.

Michael Hill: Mayor Adams and his attorneys continue to proclaim his innocence after the Department of Justice told prosecutors to drop the corruption case against him. This week, the Justice Department sent a memo directing acting US Attorney Danielle Sassoon to dismiss the case, saying it was interfering with Mayor Adams's ability to help Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Adams' attorney, Alex Spiro, denies the mayor had agreed to help the federal government carry out its crackdown in exchange for having his case dismissed.

Ales Spiro: Of course not. That's absurd.

Michael Hill: Prosecutors have yet to make their former request to dismiss the case. After that happens, a federal judge will consider the request. Prosecutors could bring the charges up again if they're dismissed. New York State is planning to spend $150 million to connect the Ronkonkoma train station in Suffolk County to nearby MacArthur Airport. Governor Kathy Hochul says improving the Long Island airport will help bring jobs to the area.

Governor Kathy Hochul: It's that doormat to the rest of the world. They see you and they come into a place that clearly a community is proud of and has investments in it. It's a good sign to businesses that we're trying to recruit here as well as the hometown residents who deserve nothing but the best.

Michael Hill: The funding will pay for a pedestrian bridge as well as road upgrades. Paul McCartney is here, there, and everywhere these days. The legendary Beatle is adding a second surprise show in the city. He's performing again tonight at The Bowery Ballroom. He played a sold-out show last night as well. Fans flocked to The Bowery Ballroom's box office upon hearing the news. 35 with clouds, feeling like the mid-20s right now. A slight chance of snow after 4:00 this afternoon, a high of 38. Overnight snow, sleet, and rain, temperature rising to the 30s.

Janae Pierre: Stay close. There's more after the break.

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Michael Hill: The criminal case against Mayor Adams is on shaky ground this morning after the US Department of Justice sent a memo on Monday asking prosecutors to drop the charges, at least for now. A federal grand jury indicted Adams last September for bribery, conspiracy, wire fraud, and soliciting campaign donations from foreign nationals. Prosecutors say he traded his political influence for pricey flight upgrades, ritzy hotel accommodations, and illegal campaign contributions. The mayor has said he's done nothing wrong. WNYC's Samantha Max joins us now to explain what this case means legally. Why does the Department of Justice, Sam, want prosecutors to toss the case against Adams?

Samantha Max: Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Beauvais directed the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York to dismiss these pending charges against the mayor as soon as possible for two different reasons that he mentioned. One is the timing of this case. He said it was brought too close to the mayoral election, which is this year. He accused the office of politically targeting Adams after he criticized former President Joe Biden's handling of immigration policy.

The second reason mentioned in this memo is that they said the case is interfering with Adams' ability to focus on illegal immigration and violent crime. Those are the words that they used. They said Adams needs to be able to focus on helping the federal government and that this case is a distraction. The US Attorney's Office, I should say, declined to comment.

Michael Hill: Does this mean that Mayor Adams is legally in the clear for good?

Samantha Max: Not necessarily. The Justice Department said it didn't assess the merits of this case, so it wasn't looking at whether or not Adams is guilty. Instead, the memo just instructed for the charges to be dropped without prejudice. That's this legal term that means they could be revived in the future. For now, they're saying wait until after the mayoral election this fall and then you can revisit it. Andrew Bower, a former federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York, told me that it's unclear at this point whether the case will be resuscitated in the future.

Andrew Bower: It probably depends in some part on how nice Eric Adams plays with the administration, how much he cracks down on immigration, how those violent crimes numbers are going to look. You're in Trump's favor until you're not.

Samantha Max: Adams and Trump have gotten closer in recent weeks, with both claiming that prosecutors politically targeted them. The mayor actually met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida. He attended his inauguration and has allegedly instructed city officials not to criticize the president. Trump on his part said at a press conference after his election that he thought Adams had been treated pretty unfairly. His words. Another attorney I spoke with said he does not expect these charges to come back in the next four years. By the time Trump is out of office, the statute of limitations will be fast approaching.

Michael Hill: Adams wasn't the only one charged in this case, Sam. What does this mean for the other defendants?

Samantha Max: It's really unclear at this point. A Brooklyn real estate mogul accused of funneling illicit donations from the Turkish government to Adams' 2021 campaign has already pleaded guilty to a federal conspiracy charge last month, but he has not been sentenced yet. Then a former liaison to the Muslim community also plans to take a guilty plea. That's according to court papers just filed last week. I spoke with John Carman. He's an attorney who often represents defendants in federal cases. He says there's no guarantee that prosecutors would dismiss the charges against those two men even if they dropped the case against Adams.

John Carman: It leaves these people at a level of vulnerability that's much more significant than it would be, had the mayor's case went forward and they would have been given an opportunity to testify and they would be richly rewarded by the sentencing court for doing that.

Samantha Max: We don't know if these two men are going to have the opportunity to trade their cooperation for favorable treatment. There had also been talk of possible other charges against other defendants or more charges against Adams in the future, and all of that is just really uncertain at this point. The US Attorney's Office said it could not comment on the future of the cases against other defendants.

Michael Hill: Sam, what happens Next?

Samantha Max: Well, Acting US Attorney Daniel Sassoon has to decide whether to follow this directive and drop the case. She's only been the interim US attorney for the Southern District of New York for a few weeks and will likely be replaced by President Trump's appointee soon. Sassoon has been with the Southern District for almost a decade, and she recently prosecuted a really high-profile case against former crypto executive, Sam Bankman-Fried. She's also a member of the Federalist Society, which is a conservative legal group.

It's unclear what direction she might go in, but legal experts I spoke with said disobeying this order really is not an option if she wants to stay in this job or really with the office. She could resign if she disagrees with the directive or doesn't want to be seen as too politically motivated. If that happens, the attorneys I spoke with said the Justice Department will just find someone else who's willing to take orders and drop the case. At this point, it's a waiting game of who makes the decision and when.

Michael Hill: Doesn't a judge have to sign off on this?

Samantha Max: Yes. A judge would also need to sign off. The judge in this case is Dale Ho. He's a fairly new judge who actually used to be an attorney representing voting rights. There's a chance that he could say, "You know what? I'm not going to sign off on this." The legal experts I spoke with said that's highly unlikely that a judge would disagree. All signs are pointing to these charges being dropped at this point.

Michael Hill: Our Samantha Max covers the courts and public safety for WNYC. You can read her story on the Adams case on our news site, Gothamist. Sam, as always, thank you.

Samantha Max: Thanks, Michael.

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Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening. This is NYC Now from WNYC. Be sure to catch us every weekday, three times a day for your top news headlines and occasional deep dives, and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. See you this evening.

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