Independent Voting recently hosted the 20th Annual Anti-Corruption Awards honoring Farhad Mohit, Gaby Cardenas and Katherine M. Gehl.
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New York Mayor Eric Adams is seen leaving Manhattan federal court on Sept. 27.
Andrea Renault/Star Max/GC Images)
Eric Adams is trying on Donald Trump’s playbook
Oct 04, 2024
Cupp is the host of "S.E. Cupp Unfiltered" on CNN.
It’s the go-to play nowadays.
If you’re a politician collared for alleged crimes, feign indignation, call it a “conspiracy,” blame the “corrupt” Department of Justice, and refuse to resign.
New York Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on five federal charges related to 2021 campaign contributions, wire fraud, and bribery. The scathing 57-page indictment was unsealed on Thursday, and according to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, Adams was “showered” with gifts from foreign entities — namely Turkey — that he knew were illegal.
According to the indictment, there was luxury travel, free airline tickets, meals and hotel rooms from Turkish officials, and Adams allegedly tried to hide the gifts, the value of which exceeded $100,000 — all in return for political favors.
Adams is innocent until proven guilty. But the SDNY isn’t dumb.
As my CNN colleague Elie Honig, a former state and federal prosecutor, said, “I’m going to put this real unscientifically for you: if you’re going to charge the sitting mayor of New York City, you better be damn sure that you have the evidence on him, because if you don’t, it will be a disaster.”
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But gone are the days of bowed-head press conferences and resignations in the wake of painful, costly, ugly and damaging scandals. So Adams has done what others before him did — some unsuccessfully, one very successfully.
First, he denied all charges and called them “lies.”
“My fellow New Yorkers, it is now my belief that the federal government intends to charge me with crimes. If so, these charges will be entirely false, based on lies.”
Then, he tried to claim he was being “targeted.”
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became.”
Then, he pointed fingers.
“Exactly who in the federal government, White House, do you say is targeting you for speaking out,” he was asked by one reporter.
“I think you need to ask the federal prosecutors who gave the directive and the orders, I don’t know. But we should ask them who gave the directive and orders that we’re going to take on and create this group of lies? They have the answer to that question.”
And finally, he refused to resign and let the people of New York get on with their business, instead insisting on dragging them into what will undoubtedly be a political circus that will unquestionably affect his ability to do his job.
But no matter — Adams is trying a play that was popularized by Donald Trump over decades. Deny, blame, deflect.
Over the course of his multiple indictments for alleged crimes during and after his presidency, Trump has blamed the “corrupt” DOJ, even going so far as to name and smear attorneys, judges, clerks, and their family members.
Many of those folks have endured death threats and harassment because of Trump’s baseless attacks.
Anyone can see how dangerous these attacks are, but Trump has so far managed to avoid prison, a trick others seem all too willing to try.
New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez tried it after he was indicted for a panoply of crimes, including corruption, conspiracy to act as a foreign agent, and obstruction of justice. For months he asserted his innocence, called the charges a conspiracy, and refused to resign.
In January, he had this to say: “The United States Attorney’s Office has engaged not in a prosecution, but a persecution. They seek a victory, but not justice.”
In July a jury found him guilty of all charges.
To believe these greedy, self-serving conspiracies, you’d have to ignore the fact that in fewer than four years, the Biden DOJ has indicted seven Democrats — including his own son!
But they’re not meant to make sense, only to enrage and tug at the conspiratorial impulses of a voter base that is now all too used to hearing tales of “rigged” and “stolen” elections, “the deep state,” and a “corrupt DOJ.”
To save their own political hides, Trump, Menendez and now Adams are shamelessly willing to smear and undermine these institutions to the point of breaking them.
And it’s working. Average confidence in institutions is at a pathetic 28%, with just 8% of Americans having “a great deal” of confidence in the criminal justice system. Forty-two percent have “very little.”
Among all the detritus and wreckage of the Trump era, this is one of his most enduring legacies — a playbook for politicians to try to save themselves by throwing everyone else under the bus. Including America herself.
©2024 S.E. Cupp. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.Keep ReadingShow less
Maricopa County (Ariz.) Elections Department staff count votes on Nov. 5, 2020.
Courtney Pedroza/Getty Images
We need federal officials to help keep an eye on vote counting
Aug 30, 2024
Herbits is an American businessman and former consultant to several secretaries of defense.
Former President Donald Trump has not yet committed to accepting the results of the 2024 election. He continuously maintains that the 2020 election was stolen, despite 60 failed lawsuits. And his behavior on Jan. 6, 2021 demonstrates beyond any doubt that he has no sense of responsibility to democracy.
Moreover, report after report reveals various tactics that his supporters around the country are preparing so they can to prevent him from losing again this time — focusing on voting constraints and ballot processing.
For instance, the nonpartisan Center for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has identified at least 35 election officials in place for the 2024 election who were 2020 election deniers.
North Carolina’s State Board of Elections, with a 3-2 Republican majority, has empowered each county board to demand further information before certifying vote totals. Potential delays could prevent North Carolina certification and possibly throw the election to the House of Representatives.
The greatest and, frankly, likeliest threat is the hyperpartisan Supreme Court — perhaps the most political court since the Taney Court’s decision in the 1847 Dred Scot decision, which led in a straight line to the Civil War. Through any number of tactics, this court can hold up the results of cases long enough to prevent any candidate from winning 270 Electoral College votes. If that happens, the next president would be elected by the House of Representatives, where each state delegation gets one vote.
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The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction when there are differences between states. However, any of the 13 appellate courts may make a decision in favor of the citizens or the state where a case has been decided at the local level and then appealed, possibly all the way to the Supreme Court. Given Chief Justice John Roberts’ history of slow-walking cases in favor of Donald Trump, that is a real possibility. If the Supreme Court does not apply a final decision before Jan. 3, 2025, when the Electoral College meets, he has created a sure route to a Republican victory in the House.
Why would the justices do that? Look at Roberts’ record — an amplification of the Taney decision. He has systematically undermined the one person, one vote premise by a series of decisions: Citizens United, Shelby County and others. (See the detailed report of the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center.
The federal government has a duty to assure safe and fair elections. Given the last four years, it should undertake to ensure vote counting can be watched from a segregated area. While the Associated Press and its stringers are likely to be witnesses to the counting of the ballots, where is the U.S. government? Why not have the FBI, DEA, AFT, Secret Service and other federal agencies assign their own witnesses to watch the counting so that they, with their credibility, may be called as witnesses in cases that do go to court.
Such an effort by federal agencies to assign observers, without authority to act, would not require congressional approval. It is not unusual for such agents, as it is for police officers everywhere, to observe an event where they may be troubling behavior. Were an incident to occur, the federal agent would not have any authority to act; but their observations as a witness in a courtroom would be like those of any other citizen, though likely to carry a degree of integrity that would be welcome.
Sixty some cases were filed in 2020. We can expect even more this year given the prominence of election deniers. These respected officials' testimony may be helpful for the courts and juries to make better decisions.
None of these individuals should, of course, be present during the actual voting process itself. Most states permit representatives of both parties to be in the voting rooms, both to watch the process and to assist voters where questions arise before ballots are cast.
I have served over the years in such a capacity. In one egregious case, I had to call a state emergency number to have white uniformed police officers removed for standing on the steps to the precinct voting room in a completely Black neighborhood in complete violation of voter intimidation regulations.
Every step we can take to protect the right to vote should be considered, especially given the temperature of this year’s election.
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Why was it so easy for Santos to lie throughout his campaign? As it turns out, it’s pretty easy to scam a broken system.
Mandel Ngan/Getty Images
George Santos and a system built for corruption
Dec 29, 2023
Nate is a communications consultant for RepresentUs, a nonpartisan organization focused on minimizing corruption in the U.S. political system.
In 2009, comedian Robin Williams quipped, “Politicians should wear sponsor jackets like NASCAR drivers.” Just one year later, the Supreme Court decided to drive in a different direction. Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission opened the floodgates to dark money, exacerbating our existing political corruption problem.
George Santos was expelled from the House of Representatives on Dec. 1 for defrauding campaign donors and members of his district, but the entire saga should be seen as a broader indictment of a broken system that enables (and seemingly encourages) political corruption. Santos was enabled by insufficient reporting laws and ineffective federal oversight. As the Campaign Legal Center reported, “Dysfunction at the FEC has reduced transparency in our elections and faith in our political system.”
In its 56-page report, the House ethics committee concluded, "Representative Santos sought to fraudulently exploit every aspect of his House candidacy for his own personal financial profit.” Santos is accused of utilizing campaign funds for Botox treatments, luxurious clothing and even an OnlyFans subscription.
Santos’ alleged pattern of fraud and corruption only came to light after his election in early 2023, when local media discovered Santos had fabricated virtually his entire resume. Despite the breadth of his lies, he might have gotten away with it if he'd just been a bit more careful.
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Why was it so easy for Santos to “fraudulently exploit every aspect” of his campaign? As it turns out, it’s pretty easy to scam a broken system.
The system is so broken that members of Congress routinely get away with legalized insider trading. The existing system also encourages members of Congress to spend more time raising money than serving their constituents. And we’ve seen numerous examples of other lawmakers “gaming the system” for personal gain thanks to campaign finance loopholes. We shouldn't be surprised that someone saw our broken system as ripe for exploitation.
We must see Santos’ fraud for what it is — the natural byproduct of a broken system in desperate need of reform.
Fortunately, there is hope! Grassroots anti-corruption groups like RepresentUs are fighting to strengthen campaign finance laws and put strict limits on special-interest campaign funding. The problem is so much bigger than any one politician. To uproot corruption, we must fix the broken system that encourages it to flourish.
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Former President Donald Trump
The Washington Post/Getty Images
Trump is the king of the bogus 'witch hunt' defense
Dec 27, 2023
Corbin is professor emeritus of marketing at the University of Northern Iowa.
A lot of politicians throughout the world have claimed they are the victims of weaponized, political persecution and a witch hunt when they encounter legal trouble. Among them: former President Bill Clinton, former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), former Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former President Donald Trump.
Trump has got to be the witch-hunt legal defense king in the world. He claims the New York, Georgia, Florida and District of Columbia court cases – totaling 91 felony charges – are politically motivated and are an American legal system “witch hunt” aimed at restricting his ability to run for president in 2024.
Anyone with a modicum of intelligence would realize the hypocrisy of Trump’s current ploy if they knew he never once declared “witch hunt” in the 62 lawsuits he filed and lost while contesting the 2020 election. Note: Trump-appointed judges were among the 80-plus magistrates who dismissed his election fraud lawsuits.
Let’s not forget it was nine jurors (six men and three women), not the judge, who awarded E. Jean Carroll $5 million because Trump sexually abused and defamed her – a fact-driven, not witch-hunt-motivated, verdict. (A federal judge ruled the ex-president’s comments about Carroll were libelous.) A second trial involving Carroll and Trump is set to start Jan. 15, the day of the Iowa GOP caucus.
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The MAGA faithful probably haven’t let it sink in that Judge Arthur Engoron of New York City already ruled that Trump, his sons and the Trump Organization repeatedly committed fraud during the last decade; again, a fact-driven (not political) decision.
Furthermore, Trump never once – to the best of my knowledge – cried wolf or uttered “witch hunt” in the 4,000-plus lawsuits that encompassed his life. Arizona Central-USA Today notes Trump has been the plaintiff 2,121 times and was a defendant on 1,929 occasions. The media’s ongoing analysis of Trump’s legal findings are broken down as follows: 1) 17 political campaign cases; six within the last year, 2) 190 government and tax cases, 3) 85 product branding and trademark cases, 4) 1,863 casino-related cases, 5) 208 class action cases over contract disputes tied to real estate developments, 6) 130 employee-employment cases, 7) 63 golf-club-related cases, 8) 14 media outlet or individual defamation cases, 9) 697 personal injury cases, 10) 622 real estate cases and 11) 206 other miscellaneous cases.
And, let’s remember “Donald Trump has been accused of rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment, including non-consensual kissing or groping, by at least 25 women since the 1970’s.” Since past actions are the best predictor of future behavior, it’s not surprising Trump has not yet made good on his promise that “all of these liars (females) will be sued after the election (2016) is over.” Again, crying wolf.
Here’s a quick review – thanks to a Dec. 6 Politico report – of Trump’s current criminal cases that appear to be the real deal rather than a witch-hunt:
- In Washington, D.C., four felony counts for his efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
- Thirteen felony counts for election interference in Georgia
- In New York, 34 felony counts in connection with hush money payments to a porn star.
- In Florida, 40 felony counts for hoarding U.S. classified documents and impeding government’s efforts to retrieve them as per law.
Might Trump be crying “witch hunt” and his lawyers purposely throwing as many counter arguments onto the court systems so the cases won’t have a verdict until after the Nov. 5, 2024, election? Of course.
His history of life-long legal issues – starting at age 27 (accusations of violating the Fair Housing Act of 1968) – should cause any registered Republican, independent or Democrat with an ounce of brain matter to think more than once about whether a man like Trump is fit to lead the greatest country in the world and abide by the Constitution and laws.
The words of Theodore Roosevelt are fitting: “No man is above the law and no man is below it; nor do we ask any man’s permission when we ask him to obey it.”
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