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jamie raskin
House Dems Push Trump AG for Answers on 'Illegal Quid Pro Quo' With Eric Adams
"The DOJ has strayed far from its principles of equal justice under the law by dismissing a serious criminal public corruption matter in exchange for assistance with the White House's immigration priorities."
Mar 03, 2025
Senior House Democrats on Monday demanded that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi hand over information about the Trump administration's "lawless order that federal prosecutors move to dismiss the public corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams as part of a corrupt bargain to buy the mayor's obedience in immigration enforcement."
Calling on Bondi to "immediately end the cover-ups and retaliations within the Department of Justice (DOJ)," House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and House Oversight Subcommittee Ranking Member Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) wrote in a letter to the attorney general:
Last month, troubling reports emerged about the Trump administration's demand that federal prosecutors move to dismiss the serious public corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams as part of a blatant and illegal quid pro quo to secure the mayor's loyal assistance in executing the Trump administration's mass arrest and deportation policies. Not only did the Department of Justice attempt to pressure career prosecutors into carrying out this illegal quid pro quo, it appears that acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove was personally engaged in a cover-up by destroying evidence and retaliating against career prosecutors who refused to follow his illegal and unethical orders.
Adams had faced five federal felony charges including alleged wire fraud, bribery, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. According to a September 2024 indictment, the Democrat "sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him" as it became clear in 2021 that he would be elected.
On February 14, Trump's DOJ formally moved to drop the charges against Adams without prejudice, meaning they could be brought again. This prompted the resignation of seven federal prosecutors, and, on February 17, four of Adams' eight deputy mayors.
Raskin's office said Monday that federal prosecutors' resignation letters, "including those by Danielle Sassoon, a staunch conservative, former law clerk to [U.S. Supreme Court] Justice Antonin Scalia, and Trump's interim United States attorney for [the Southern District of New York], and Hagan Scotten, a former law clerk to both [Supreme Court] Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, revealed a stunning account of a corrupt bargain the DOJ struck with Mayor Adams, as well as an attempted cover-up."
Sassoon described a January 31 meeting she and colleagues attended with Bove at which "Adams' attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the [DOJ's] enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed," and added that Bove "admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting's conclusion."
Subsequently, Adams reportedly told New York City officials to refrain from criticizing Trump. After meeting with Trump "border czar" Tom Homan, Adams on February 13 announced an executive order to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to operate at Rikers Island, New York City's largest jail, for the first time in decades.
The following day Adams and Homan appeared together on Fox News. Although the two men were seen laughing it up, Homan said that if the mayor didn't "come through" for the Trump administration, "we won't be sitting on this couch, I'll be in his office, up his butt, saying, where the hell is the agreement we came to?"
Thinly veiled Homan warning to Adams: “If he doesn’t come through … I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, Where the hell is the agreement we came to” pic.twitter.com/Pq0msJXZGb
— Emily Ngo (@emilyngo) February 14, 2025
Raskin and Crockett are seeking all notes related to the January 31 meeting, all communications between the White House and DOJ regarding the Adams case, and other information.
"For our justice system to function, 'legal judgments of the Department of Justice must be impartial and insulated from political influence,'" the lawmakers asserted. "As Ms. Sassoon said in her letter, our system depends on prosecutors pursuing justice 'without favor to the wealthy or those who occupy important public office.' Here, the DOJ has strayed far from its principles of equal justice under the law by dismissing a serious criminal public corruption matter in exchange for assistance with the White House's immigration priorities."
"Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the Trump DOJ allowing criminals to go free—whether they assaulted police officers, sold drugs to the community, or are corrupt politicians—as long as the criminals pledge loyalty to President Trump," the pair added.
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Raskin Condemns Trump DOJ's 'Illegal Intimidation' of Anti-Corruption Division
"It's time to do your job and stop this outrageous sabotage of justice in the interests of naked political corruption," said the lawmaker.
Feb 14, 2025
Amid reports that attorneys in the Public Integrity Section at the U.S. Department of Justice—those tasked with fighting political corruption—were being intimidated into dismissing the federal criminal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday, Congressman Jamie Raskin demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi "immediately halt" the actions of DOJ leaders.
A day after three top federal prosecutors in New York and Washington resigned following a demand from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to drop the case against Adams, MSNBC legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade reported that DOJ leaders had given the remaining lawyers in the anti-corruption unit an ultimatum.
They "put all Public Integrity Section lawyers into a room with one hour to decide who will dismiss [the] Adams indictment or else all will be fired," said McQuade.
Reutersreported Friday afternoon that one of the attorneys, veteran prosecutor Ed Sullivan, agreed to file a motion to dismiss the charges in order to spare the jobs of his colleagues in the Public Integrity Section.
On Thursday, Danielle R. Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned after receiving a memo from Bove saying the charges against Adams would interfere with his ability to fight "illegal immigration and violent crime."
The acting head of the Public Integrity Section and the acting head of the DOJ's Criminal Division also refused to drop the case and resigned.
Adams was charged with bribery, campaign finance violations, and conspiracy offenses last year, with U.S. attorneys saying an investigation had found that he allegedly took bribes from foreign nationals, including to allow a skyscraper in Manhattan to open without a fire inspection.
In a letter to Bondi, Sassoon wrote that "Adams' attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed."
A lawyer for Adams toldThe New York Times Thursday that the allegation of a quid pro quo was "a total lie," but President Donald Trump's border czar, Thomas Homan, alluded to the deal in a Fox News appearance with Adams on Friday.
"If he doesn't come through," said Homan, "I'll be in his office, up his butt, saying, 'Where the hell is the agreement we came to?'"
Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of immigrant rights group America's Voice, said the Trump administration's engagement in the alleged deal reflected the president's "obsessive focus on mass deportations."
"His obsession to purge America of immigrants seems to have no limit: cutting a quid pro quo with Mayor Adams, to drop criminal charges in return for immigrant roundups; diverting resources from stopping fentanyl at ports of entry to deport workers; gutting entire immigrant-dependent industries that put food on the table and keep prices low; and intruding into the homes and apartments and going door-to-door to instill fear among people mostly legal, many citizens," she said.
Raskin (D-Md.) demanded that Bondi "put an immediate halt to this illegal and unconscionable intimidation campaign."
"Your Department of Justice has been caught engaging in a corrupt deal with Mayor Adams and now attempting to cover it up," he said in a statement. "It's time to do your job and stop this outrageous sabotage of justice in the interests of naked political corruption."
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Amid 'Illegal' USAID Takeover, Dems Say There's No 'Fourth Branch of Government Called Elon Musk'
"Just like he didn't create USAID, he's not gonna destroy it," said Rep. Jamie Raskin.
Feb 03, 2025
Several Democratic members of Congress were denied entry to the headquarters of the United States Agency for International Development on Monday, after giving a press conference on the attempted takeover of USAID by President Donald Trump and his adviser, billionaire businessman Elon Musk.
Federal law enforcement officers blocked the delegation, including Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), from entering the offices. Beyer later said the moves were "illegal and corrupt and we will keep fighting it."
The Democrats had just finished speaking about the events of this past weekend, when employees of the Department of Government Efficiency( DOGE), the advisory body Trump appointed Musk to lead, demanded that security officials at USAID hand over confidential files. The officials were placed on administrative leave when they refused, along with dozens of other senior federal workers at the agency.
On Monday, as the Democratic delegation prepared to respond to the Trump administration's actions, Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that he was now the acting director of USAID, which assists with disaster recovery, poverty alleviation, and other foreign aid operations.
The Democrats had a simple message at the press conference, where more than 100 demonstrators gathered holding signs reading, "USAID Must Be Saved" and "Today USAID. What's Next?" The agency was created by an act of Congress in 1961, when the Foreign Assistance Act was passed, and only Congress can dismantle it.
"Elon Musk, you didn't create USAID, the U.S. Congress did for the American people," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) "And just like he didn't create USAID, he's not gonna destroy it."
"Just like the president... cannot impound the money of the people," added Raskin, "we don't have a fourth branch of government called Elon Musk, and that's going to become real clear."
Raskin: "Elon Musk, you may have illegally seized power over the financial payments systems of the Treasury, but you don't control the money of the American people. The US Congress does that under Article 1 of the Constitution ... we don't have a fourth branch of government… pic.twitter.com/aqdY7Q4OQW
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 3, 2025
The members of Congress were refused entry to the agency headquarters after staffers were advised on Monday morning to stay out of the building, where yellow police tape blocked the lobby.
As Common Dreamsreported, Musk said Monday that he had checked with President Donald Trump "a few times" about the future of USAID, and the president allegedly directed him to shut it down.
Raskin condemned "murmurings of support for this outrageous, scandalous, illegal maneuver" that he said he had heard from some Republican colleagues, with supporters saying the administration is simply "evaluating" the agency's work.
"I've heard from multiple constituents working in USAID that they have removed all evaluations from the USAID website," said Raskin. "This has nothing to do with evaluations, this is about termination and obliteration of the major foreign aid programs of the United States of America."
At a separate press briefing, Sen. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) told reporters Monday morning that security guards at USAID had "been given specific orders to prevent employees of USAID from entering the building today."
"I went inside and tried to speak to the acting administrator [Jason] Gray," he said, referring to the official who Rubio has reportedly replaced. "Unfortunately I was not able to meet with him, and I'm going to continue to try... I want to hear straight from him, are these the orders that he gave? ...This is no way to govern, this is no way to treat public servants, and this is no way for us to conduct foreign policy as a country."
Before attempting to enter USAID, Beyer said Musk's takeover of the agency is "a case of the very worst among us attacking the best of us," noting that agency employees work to prevent the spread of infectious disease around the world and in the U.S., among other foreign aid missions.
"What Trump and Musk have done is not only wrong, it is illegal," said Beyer. "Stopping this will require action by the courts and Republicans to show up and show courage and stand up for our country."
"I'm urging my fellow Democrats to use every legislative tool we have at our disposal to slow down and stop this crime from succeeding," he added.
After being blocked from entering USAID, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) toldThe New York Times that the lawmakers were working to secure an injunction to block Musk's order to keep the offices closed.
With Republicans controlling both chambers of Congress, the Democrats' path to fighting Musk and Trump over USAID is likely through the court system. Last week, the Office of Management and Budget's order for all federal grants and loans to be frozen was temporarily blocked by two federal judges.
Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), also part of the delegation that went to USAID, emphasized that the takeover was "a bluff."
"They are counting on some sense of inevitability," he said. "It is a harmful killer bluff, but they don't have the law on their side, and so every civil servant, every contractor, every individual who is scared, stand in solidarity with each other."
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