Thursday Night Massacre

It started when Trump tried to get the charges dropped against New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, in exchange for his cooperation with ICE agents. This alone would be a tricky move, since the Mayor is not allowed to cooperate with ICE under NYC law, which made NYC a sanctuary city. Nevertheless, the Acting Deputy Attorney General of the Department of Justice, Emil Bove, asked the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, to dismiss the case against Adams “without Prejudice” (meaning he could be brought back for trial at a future date). Sassoon sent a letter to Bove saying that without any change in the facts of the case she could not do this without violating her oath of office. She asked to discuss this in person with Bove and offered to resign if she could not do this. Bove accepted her resignation and then moved the case to the Public Integrity section in the Criminal Divsion of the Department of Justice in DC. Five more attorneys then resigned rather than dismiss the case. That was Thursday night, hence the moniker “Thursday Night Massacre” for this Administration’s debacle.

Bove claimed there was no arrangement with Adams for his help with ICE in exchange for the dismissal of charges (such quid pro quo would be blatantly illegal). However, Adams appeared on Fox News with Tom Homan, Trump’s “Border Czar.” Homan said if Adams didn’t “come through” he would be in his office saying “Where the hell is the agreement we came to?”