Donald Trump, the President-elect, expressed on Monday his willingness to pardon New York City Mayor Eric Adams who is facing federal corruption charges. The mayor was indicted by the federal government in September for receiving travel benefits from Turkish officials, including upgrades on flights.
Trump said yes to the question of whether he would consider a pardon of Adams during a Florida news conference. He added that the Department of Justice had treated the Mayor “pretty unjustly”.
Trump said:
Upgraded in an aircraft many years ago – I’m sure everyone here has had the upgrade.
Trump expressed his support for Adams but made it clear he needed to examine the details of the situation before he could make a final determination.
Both men share a common criticism of the Biden Administration for its political weaponization of the Justice Department as well as the federal response to the border crisis. Adams, a Democrat from New York City has spoken out about the immigration crisis there, where more than 200,000 illegal migrants have arrived. Adams has pledged to support the Trump administration in its efforts to deport illegal immigrants. Trump has suggested repeatedly that Adams’ arrest could be politically motivated due to the mayor’s criticism of the Biden Administration on immigration.
Trump stated:
I’ve been persecuted for my views on open borders by the DOJ. Eric, we were all persecuted. Eric, I was also persecuted and you are too.
Adams, a retired police officer, who was registered as a Republican back in the 1990s, recently hinted that he might return to the GOP. Some of Adams’ advisors are trying to get him a ticket to Trump’s upcoming Inauguration, signaling a possible shift in his political affiliation and future ambitions.
Adams could join the growing list of defendants for whom pardons will be a priority to the next POTUS. Trump said in his recent interview with TIME Magazine where he received the Person of the Year award that he will begin pardoning the January 6 defendants as soon as he takes office.
We’re going examine each case individually, very quickly. And we’ll start the process in my first hour of office. A vast majority of these people shouldn’t be in prison. They’ve all suffered a lot and should not be behind bars.
Trump then clarified the timeline in his interview, suggesting that it would be among his first official actions, saying:
I’ll be looking at J6 early on, maybe the first nine minutes.
Adams’ trial is scheduled to begin in April.
