GiveEric Adamssome credit: He put his back into this one.
Almost instantly, he started floating Trump-friendly conspiracy theories that the prosecution was a Joe Biden revenge plot.
He stood up for then-candidate Trump when his opponent dared to call him a fascist.
New York Mayor Eric Adams and President Donald TrumpRoy Rochlin/Getty Images; Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
This get-out-of-jail card isnt free, though.
Legal observers tell me theyve never seen a deal quite like it before.
And while Adams may have been the most obvious and immediate beneficiary, hes not the only one.
Everything and everyone is up for sale.
Just name your price, and start the negotiation.
The idea was to stop that kind of covert propaganda.
The law lay dormant for decades, until 2016s election interference.
Since then, FARA prosecutions had gone through the roof.
This new Bondi directive stops all that.
Remember the case against Pras, the Fugees rapper, foracting as an agent of China?
Some of those charges likely wouldnt have happened under Bondis new rules.
But we already have laws and lawyers to stop secret-stealing and the like.
FARA is for something different.
And that on Monday, Trump sacked the head of theOffice of Government Ethics.
On Monday, Trumppardoned disgraced Illinois Gov.
Rod Blagojevich, who was sent to prison for trying to sell Barack Obamas old Senate seat.
Its going to mean a lot more business for America, the president said.
Then theres the Adams situation.
In it, Bove block[s] further targeting of Mayor Adams or additional investigative steps.
But theres more to Boves memo.
It defers to the U.S.
Attorneys Office at this time about the strength of the evidence in the case.
In other words, Bove is admitting, at least provisionally, that the initial prosecution was solid.
In theory, theres nothing preventing the U.S.
There are things Trump and his team clearly want in return for holding those prosecutors at bay.
Adams administration released updated guidance on Monday that hew more closely to the previous legal standards.
Public corruption is often viewed as a victimless crime.
Not if the price for Adams exoneration winds up being paid by immigrant kids.
Earlier on Monday, according to local news site The City,Adams took things to another level.
He ordered local officialsnot to publicly criticize Trump in any way and not to interfere with immigration enforcement.
Thats the thing about corrupt bargains.
There are always more strings attached to the deal.
