(Photo
by
TIMOTHY
A.
CLARY/AFP
via
Getty
Images)
Jonathan
Turley
continues
his
effort
to
erode
any
lingering
misconception
that
he
understands
the
law
by
rushing
to
the
aid
of
embattled
NYC
Mayor
Eric
Adams.
Despite
an
indictment
filled
with
more
smoking
guns
than
a
Guy
Ritchie
film,
Turley
assures
readers
—
like
a
broad
caricature
of
an
old-timey
cop
—
to
“move
along,
nothing
to
see
here,”
dismissing
some
23
overt
acts
and
a
cornucopia
of
embarrassingly
damning
text
messages
to
explain
how,
as
political
corruption
goes,
this
isn’t
as
bad
as
the
time
AOC
wore
a
designer
dress.
To
borrow
from
George
S.
Patton:
Never
tell
Turley
how
to
explain
legal
concepts.
Tell
him
what
partisan
result
to
get
and
he
will
surprise
you
with
his
disingenuity.
How
does
one
explain
away
all
the
trips
and
gifts?
For
example,
many
of
the
gifts
from
Turkish
sources
were
realized
in
the
form
of
upgrades
on
flights
to
business
class
or
expensive
hotel
suites.
It
is
not
clear
what
Adams
knew
of
the
logistics
for
such
travel
or
their
inclusion
in
annual
reports.
Despite
their
public
personas,
many
populist
politicians
tend
to
be
a
pampered
class
who
expect
to
be
feted
in
the
best
quarters
as
they
speak
as
the
“voice
of
the
people.”
“First
stop
is
always
Istanbul,”
Adams
wrote
apparently
coincidentally.
The
indictment
includes
multiple
exchanges
where
Adams
exhibits
firsthand
knowledge
of
what’s
going
on.
And,
of
course,
there
was
the
other
side
of
the
quid
pro
quo
in
the
form
of
letting
Turkey
erect
a
building
on
one
of
the
most
valuable
pieces
of
real
estate
in
the
world
that
couldn’t
pass
basic
safety
laws.
Turley
digs
deep:
The
government
alleges
that
Turkish
officials
immediately
dialed
up
their
well-groomed
ally,
Adams,
and
told
him
that
it
was
“his
turn”
to
support
Turkey.Adams
intervened
and
prosecutors
say
that
FDNY
officials
were
afraid
for
their
jobs.Once
again,
however,
Adams
has
defenses.
He
can
argue
that
New
York
is
the
home
of
the
United
Nations
and
a
large
population
of
diplomats
and
international
organizations.
This
was
a
foreign
country
seeking
to
open
a
consulate
and
he
intervened
to
avoid
an
embarrassing
diplomatic
tiff.
He
only
blessed
the
death
trap
because
he’s
a
diplomat.
10/10.
No
notes.
The
biggest
problem
for
Adams
is
that
the
US
Attorney’s
Office
went
public
with
a
threat
for
all
of
those
who
do
not
cooperate
and
pledged
that
more
will
be
“held
accountable.”In
other
words,
the
indictment
amplified
the
tune
in
a
game
of
musical
chairs.
Anyone
close
to
Adams
may
want
to
sit
down
before
the
music
stops.
That
means
that
Adams
can
expect
close
associates
to
be
testifying
against
him
with
the
enthusiasm
of
those
threatened
with
ruin
by
federal
prosecutors.If
Eric
Adams
is
convicted,
it
will
be
at
the
hands
of
his
associates.
Yes.
Those
associates
are
customarily
called
“witnesses.”
This
is
actually
how
criminal
cases
work.
For
Turley,
the
real
injustice
involves
targeting
a
mayor
for
allegedly
taking
illegal
foreign
campaign
contributions
in
exchange
for
political
favors
when
a
more
liberal
politician…
wore
a
dress
once.
That
was
captured
most
vividly
by
NYC
Rep.
Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez
sashaying
at
the
Met
Gala
in
a
designer
dress
reading
“tax
the
rich.”
It
was
a
scene
with
a
crushing
irony.
The
dress
itself
was
worth
more
than
some
people
make
in
a
year
and
it
was
just
“loaned”
to
AOC
despite
being
made
specifically
for
her.
She
also
did
not
pay
for
her
ticket,
which
would
cost
$35,000.It
triggered
an
ethics
investigation
and
allegations
of
ethical
violations.
Yeah,
and
what
happened
with
that
ethics
investigation?
Seems
like
the
fact
that
she
paid
the
expenses
with
personal
funds
would
be
a
worthwhile
fact
to
include
here.
Turley
opens
his
piece
stressing
that
Adams
should
be
given
every
benefit
of
the
doubt
at
this
stage…
weird
to
not
extend
the
same
courtesy
over
a
fizzled
House
rules
investigation
from
over
a
year
ago.
It’s
also
not
clear
how
there’s
any
potential
influence
peddling
involved
in
wearing
a
rented
dress
as
opposed
to,
you
know,
TAKING
TEN
MILLION
DOLLARS
OF
ILLEGAL
CONTRIBUTIONS.
Is
it
possible
that
Turley
is
just
Turkey’s
burner
account?
And,
of
course,
being
Turley,
he
finds
a
way
to
ramrod
Hunter
Biden
into
the
conversation:
The
Adams
allegations
would
constitute
a
fairly
crude
form
of
corruption
by
today’s
standards.
For
the
Biden
family,
it
looks
like
small
potatoes.
Adams
lacked
a
Hunter
and
the
type
of
labyrinth
of
accounts
maintained
by
the
Bidens
to
funnel
millions
from
foreign
sources.
It
seems
at
least
marginally
relevant
that
Eric
Adams
was
a
public
official
and
Joe
Biden
was
not
at
the
time
his
son
did
all
this
work
overseas.
Turley
tends
to
overlook
that
because
he
can’t
figure
out
how
calendars
work,
but
there’s
not
really
anything
wrong
with
a
guy
working
with
a
foreign
company
while
his
dad
isn’t
even
an
elected
official.
But
despite
Turley’s
cartoonish
effort
to
wave
away
the
Adams
indictment
and
drag
other
Democratic
Party
figures
instead,
he
does
hit
on
one
potentially
accurate
point:
Suggesting
that
a
push
to
cut
short
fire
inspections
may
be
difficult
to
maintain
under
a
bribery
theory.
That
was
the
type
of
expansive
case
that
government
attorney
Jack
Smith
used
against
former
Virginia
Republican
Gov.
Robert
McDonnell
and
it
failed
spectacularly
before
the
Supreme
Court.
While
it
does
violence
to
the
concept
of
rule
of
law
to
cite
the
Supreme
Court’s
fixation
on
legalizing
bribery,
it
is
a
reality.
The
Supreme
Court
decided
that
McDonnell’s
graft
couldn’t
sustain
a
conviction
and
recently
declared
that
bribery
laws
can’t
be
used
to
prosecute
an
official
who
accepts
money
under
the
table
AFTER
doing
the
favor.
The
current
majority
is
on
a
holy
crusade
to
legalize
payola
so
it’s
unfortunately
not
absurd
to
think
Adams
will
eventually
prevail.
So
give
Turley
his
due
on
this
one.
Broken
clocks
and
all
that.
Joe
Patrice is
a
senior
editor
at
Above
the
Law
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
Feel
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