NYC Mayor Eric Adams
This is the earliest annual mock award I started back in 2008 (it was published in my 2009 post); it is a play on words for the symbol of the Democratic Party for Democrats behaving badly; I later introduced a comparable mock award for Republicans behaving badly. There are a number of odious NY Democrats who were candidates, if not selected for this award including Andrew Cuomo (repeat winner), Weiner, and Rangel. I had higher hopes for Adams, especially after the tenure of the failed leftist predecessor, de Blasio; I felt with his law enforcement background he could better deal with public safety issues.
There were other contenders for this mock award, especially President Joe Biden. he had once promised to serve only 1 term since he started his Presidency at 78. There is no maximum age for POTUS by the Constitution, but he would become the oldest President ever in one of the most demanding jobs. He would later justify running for reelection, arguing he would be an ineffectual lame duck without the prospect of reelection. But his ratings were dragging near 40% all year; an alarming rating for any incumbent. He was increasingly showing visible signs of aging and confusion, Then came the debate: parts of his answers were unintelligible like beating Medicare. Trump is no great debater, but Democrats realized the polls hadn't been promising before the debate, and there was a lot of pressure to turn the tables against Trump by instead running the much younger Kamala Harris. But, in addition to his delayed withdrawal from the race, there's his lame duck seeping pardon of son Hunter (I've discussed this elsewhere. The pardon, of course, is something he had vowed he wouldn't do. It puts the Biden's above the law, the corruption of nepotism, appalling progressives as well as Trumpkins
Eric Adams has been indicted by the federal Southern District of NY for foreign bribery and campaign financing fraud:
Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, James E. Dennehy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Jocelyn E. Strauber, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging ERIC ADAMS, the Mayor of New York City, with bribery, campaign finance, and conspiracy offenses. The case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Mayor Adams abused his position as this City’s highest elected official, and before that as Brooklyn Borough President, to take bribes and solicit illegal campaign contributions. By allegedly taking improper and illegal benefits from foreign nationals—including to allow a Manhattan skyscraper to open without a fire inspection—Adams put the interests of his benefactors, including a foreign official, above those of his constituents. This Office and our partners at the FBI and DOI will continue to pursue corruption anywhere in this City, especially when that corruption takes the form of illegal foreign influence on our democratic system.”
What the release goes on to explain is that Turkish officials and/or businessmen where Adams, from 2014 as Brooklyn Borough President through his current position, agreed to do city-related favors which he could influence in a low-profile manner, such as working around a mandatory fire inspection requirement to open a new Turkish consulate skyscraper in time for a visit by the Turkish president. in return for secret "straw" campaign contributions and free or discounted foreign high quality travel arrangements (airfare, hotels, restaurants, etc.). The straw contributions were basically disguised as from local residents or entities eligible for public campaign matching funds.
Now, of course, Mayor Adams is entitled to his day in court, and I haven't personally haven't reviewed the evidence, but apparently it was enough to secure an indictment through a grand jury. In terms of corruption, it's the most disturbing I've seen since former Sen. Menendez, a former recipient of this "award".
