WEBVTT - NYC Mayor Adams Closer to Having Case Tossed 0:00:02.759 --> 0:00:07.520 This is Bloomberg Law with June Grossel from Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.080 New York City Mayor Eric Adams was one of four 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:17.000 Democratic mayors of sanctuary cities who testified before the House 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:21.119 Oversight Committee last week as the White House threatens to 0:00:21.160 --> 0:00:25.400 pull federal funding from Boston, Chicago, Denver, and New York. 0:00:25.640 --> 0:00:29.720 But the criminal corruption case against Adams took center stage 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:34.479 as the mayor was grilled by several Democratic lawmakers about 0:00:34.479 --> 0:00:38.680 the allegations that the Justice Department agreed to dismiss the 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:43.000 charges in return for helping the Trump administration with its 0:00:43.040 --> 0:00:50.760 deportation efforts. Representative Robert Garcia, a Democrat from California, questioned Adams. 0:00:51.360 --> 0:00:53.200 And Mayor Adams, I also want to be very clear, 0:00:53.720 --> 0:00:56.880 are you selling out New Yorkers to save yourself from prosecution? 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:04.120 No deal, no quick pro qual and I did nothing 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:07.399 wrong and anything dealing with this case. At a deference 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:11.959 to Judge Hoe, who's now addressing it, I'm going to 0:01:12.000 --> 0:01:13.280 refer to his actions. 0:01:13.640 --> 0:01:16.120 Well, mister Mary, it appears to me at least that 0:01:16.160 --> 0:01:18.959 you are selling New Yorkers out. It appears that you 0:01:19.000 --> 0:01:22.720 are working with Tom Homan, who is clearly clearly focused 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.720 on family separation and deportations. 0:01:25.200 --> 0:01:28.360 But it appears that Adams is a step closer to 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:33.040 getting the criminal charges dismissed. Paul Clement, the former US 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:37.039 Solicitor General appointed by Judge dale Hoe as a friend 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:40.559 of the Court to advise him, has recommended the case 0:01:40.640 --> 0:01:45.720 be permanently dismissed. Joining me is former federal prosecutor Robert Mintz, 0:01:45.840 --> 0:01:50.080 a partner maccarter In English, Bob explain why Judge Hoe 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:51.200 appointed Clement. 0:01:52.000 --> 0:01:57.040 Judge dale Hoe took the very unusual step of appointing 0:01:57.120 --> 0:02:00.600 Paul Clement, who had been the US Solicitor JAI during 0:02:00.600 --> 0:02:04.040 the George W. Bush administration and has argued more than 0:02:04.080 --> 0:02:07.440 one hundred cases before the Supreme Court, to give him 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:11.080 advice with regard to how to handle this dismissal motion, 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:15.240 essentially based upon his view that he was getting a 0:02:15.360 --> 0:02:19.040 one sided argument. In other words, both the defense lawyer 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:22.160 and the government in this case were seeking to have 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.720 the indictment dismissed, and the judge wanted to hear the 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.560 other side of the argument. That's why he appointed Paul 0:02:29.639 --> 0:02:32.880 Clement to give him advice as to what issues he 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:36.440 should be considering. Really, what his options were here. With 0:02:36.560 --> 0:02:37.679 regard to this motion. 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:42.080 Clement wrote a thirty three page brief in response for 0:02:42.160 --> 0:02:47.400 the judge. One important point was that the executive branch 0:02:48.080 --> 0:02:50.919 is the one that chooses when to prosecute and when 0:02:51.040 --> 0:02:52.160 not to prosecute. 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.560 You're exactly right that Paul Clement did not really get 0:02:55.560 --> 0:02:59.640 into the merits of these arguments from both sides. If 0:02:59.680 --> 0:03:03.600 you were called, the acting Deputy Attorney General had ordered 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:05.960 the Southern District to dismiss the case, and there were 0:03:06.000 --> 0:03:09.440 a series of prosecutors, including the acting US Attorney at 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:13.160 the time, who resigned rather than follow that order, saying 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:16.240 that the reasons for the dismissal were improper, that it 0:03:16.280 --> 0:03:19.239 was about politics and not about the merits of the case. 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.120 But ultimately, mister Clement concluded that the judge here doesn't 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:26.640 really have much in the way of options. That essentially, 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.440 if the executive branch, meaning the prosecution and the Department 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.760 of Justice, choose to dismiss the case, there's not much 0:03:33.800 --> 0:03:37.240 the judge can do about it. He pointed out that ultimately, 0:03:37.560 --> 0:03:39.640 even if the court were to order the case to 0:03:39.680 --> 0:03:42.280 go forward, the government could simply run out the clock, 0:03:42.480 --> 0:03:45.160 in other words, do nothing with the case. Until there 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:47.800 was what's called a speedy trial violation, and then the 0:03:47.840 --> 0:03:51.040 defense would move to dismiss the case, so short of 0:03:51.080 --> 0:03:54.960 appointing a special prosecutor, which is rarely done, as it's 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:57.920 possible that it's not even constitutional to do it. In 0:03:57.960 --> 0:04:02.120 this circumstance, mister Clement recommended to the judge that there's 0:04:02.240 --> 0:04:05.160 really nothing for him to do here but to grant 0:04:05.240 --> 0:04:08.680 the dismissal. And that's why he didn't get into the 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:12.920 back and forth between the former Southern District prosecutors and 0:04:12.960 --> 0:04:16.240 the Department of Justice as to the motivations behind this 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.200 motion to dismiss the indictment against Mayor Adam. 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:24.240 Clement didn't discuss the evidence against Adams, the strength of 0:04:24.279 --> 0:04:28.799 the charges against him, he wrote, Private citizens and courts 0:04:28.839 --> 0:04:32.279 can't force a prosecution, no matter how clearly someone has 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:37.000 violated a federal criminal statute. Of course, the Justice Department 0:04:37.080 --> 0:04:41.120 didn't discuss the evidence when it first ordered the dismissal. 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:45.560 If you remember, it was made explicit by the acting 0:04:45.640 --> 0:04:50.120 Deputy US Attorney Emo Beauvat that this directive to dismiss 0:04:50.120 --> 0:04:53.560 the case was not done on the merits. He expressly 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:56.440 said that he was not looking at either the evidence 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.479 or the legal theory behind the case. Now, in a 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:03.240 more recent in filing by the Department of Justice last Friday, 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.920 they did mention the merits of the case, so they 0:05:07.000 --> 0:05:10.679 have shifted slightly to argue in papers they filed before 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:14.600 the court that the legal arguments underpinning the bribery charges 0:05:14.960 --> 0:05:18.679 against Mayor Adams, they said, was weak. That is something 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.559 that is within the scope of the Department of Justice 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.719 certainly to consider in deciding whether or not to continue 0:05:24.760 --> 0:05:28.040 to pursue the case. But it really wasn't the driving force, 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:33.160 and they again reiterated the earlier statement that the prosecution 0:05:33.360 --> 0:05:36.720 of Mayor Adams would interfere with his ability to cooperate 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:41.000 with this administration moved to crack down on illegal immigration, 0:05:41.440 --> 0:05:44.240 and that really was the basis to seek could dismiss 0:05:44.279 --> 0:05:45.760 the indictment at this time. 0:05:46.000 --> 0:05:50.320 Danielle says Soon in her letter said she was confident 0:05:50.760 --> 0:05:53.920 in the case that the charges against Adams could be 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:57.000 proved and that's unusual to hear from a prosecutor. 0:05:57.920 --> 0:05:58.160 Yeah. 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:02.600 In the letter that daniel Soon, the former US Attorney 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:06.359 for the Southern justic wrote to the Department of Justice 0:06:06.360 --> 0:06:09.880 in response to that directive. She did discuss the merits 0:06:09.880 --> 0:06:13.359 of the case, which is highly unusual. Prosecutors generally do 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:16.520 not talk about the merits of the case outside of 0:06:16.560 --> 0:06:19.480 the context of the courtum itself. They don't make these 0:06:19.600 --> 0:06:23.320 extra judicial statements. They don't talk about where the case 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:25.880 might be going. They let all of their talking take 0:06:25.920 --> 0:06:30.240 place inside the courtroom, during legal arguments or in their briefs. 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:33.080 But she did mention that she believed that the case 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:36.080 against Mayor Adam was found. She pointed out that the 0:06:36.080 --> 0:06:40.720 investigation had begun many, many years ago, before the outgoing 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.200 US Attorney, Damien Williams, had been involved in the case. 0:06:44.640 --> 0:06:47.359 One of the things that the Department of Justice pointed 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:51.360 to was an op ed written by Damien Williams as 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:54.560 soon as he left the position of US Attorney for 0:06:54.600 --> 0:06:59.479 the Southern District, in which he questioned the ethics of 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:02.599 the aministration. He didn't mention Mayor Adams by name, but 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.159 it was a clear reference to the current administration in 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:08.560 the sense that he made a comment about the current 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:13.119 administration having lost its moral compass. The Department of Justice, 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.440 in its filing on Friday, had gone through certain text 0:07:16.440 --> 0:07:20.600 messages and emails from missus soon and from the prosecutor 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:23.920 who was leading the Adams case, where they commented upon 0:07:24.400 --> 0:07:27.520 the op ed written by Damian Williams and how unhappy 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.120 they were with it, and they thought it was improper 0:07:30.480 --> 0:07:33.560 and they wanted to distance themselves and the case from 0:07:33.600 --> 0:07:37.160 those comments. And the Department of Justice pointed out that 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:40.840 even the prosecutors who are pursuing the case had some 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:45.000 questions about whether it was politically motivated, but in the end, 0:07:45.080 --> 0:07:47.640 there was never really a discussion here, as you say, 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:51.200 about the merits of the case. The decision was made 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:55.520 simply based on the fact that they thought that the 0:07:55.560 --> 0:07:59.400 prosecution would interfere with the mayor's ability to carry out 0:07:59.400 --> 0:08:03.880 the administration immigration policy, and that that ultimately was enough 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:05.119 to dismiss the case. 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:10.720 The judge has concluded that Damian Williams hadn't violated any 0:08:10.920 --> 0:08:14.760 professional obligations in writing the op ed. I mean that 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:18.720 was done after he left office, so I don't see 0:08:18.720 --> 0:08:20.240 what relevance it has. 0:08:20.840 --> 0:08:24.040 You're exactly right. The judge did conclude that mister Williams 0:08:24.080 --> 0:08:28.280 hadn't violed any professional obligations. Clearly, as prosecutors, it's not 0:08:28.400 --> 0:08:30.560 the kind of thing you want to see out there, 0:08:30.840 --> 0:08:33.760 because it does inject an issue into your case that 0:08:33.840 --> 0:08:36.520 you do not really want to deal with. But in 0:08:36.559 --> 0:08:40.640 the end, as you said, Ms. Bethoon and the prosecutor 0:08:40.640 --> 0:08:43.440 who is leading the case had no question in their 0:08:43.520 --> 0:08:45.920 mind that this was a case that was found both 0:08:46.000 --> 0:08:49.199 legally and based on the evidence, and the Department of 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:53.240 Justice has not really challenged that in any significant way. 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.760 Their position has been that it is appropriate for them 0:08:56.760 --> 0:08:59.360 to have made the decision to dismiss the case. Now, 0:08:59.360 --> 0:09:02.599 they asked for the case to be dismissed without presudice 0:09:02.760 --> 0:09:06.320 so that it could possibly be reinstated after the election, 0:09:06.960 --> 0:09:09.760 but they wanted the case dismissed so that Mayor Adams 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:14.319 could continue to focus on his ability to enforce the 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:16.600 Trump administration's immigration policy. 0:09:17.400 --> 0:09:20.880 There is, i believe, just one line in the thirty 0:09:20.920 --> 0:09:25.400 three pages where Clement says there's evidence that suggests the 0:09:25.440 --> 0:09:30.040 decision to dismiss the indictment was undertaken in bad faith. 0:09:30.559 --> 0:09:34.880 So that's one line dropped there, referring to, you know, 0:09:34.960 --> 0:09:39.840 Emil Beauvey's order to dismiss the indictment being in bad faith. 0:09:40.160 --> 0:09:41.520 Where does the judge weigh that. 0:09:42.120 --> 0:09:46.000 Mister Clement did make mention that the evidence and he's 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:49.160 quoting here suggests the decision to dismiss the indictment was 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:52.679 undertaken in bad face. The Department of Justice has made 0:09:52.880 --> 0:09:57.000 the argument that the prosecution was politically motivated. Ultimately, Paul 0:09:57.080 --> 0:10:00.440 Klement decides that the judge does not have the weigh 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:04.199 in and it's unnecessary for him to determine whether or 0:10:04.280 --> 0:10:07.719 not the case was politically motivated from the start, or 0:10:07.720 --> 0:10:11.600 whether or not this dismissal was motivated by some kind 0:10:11.600 --> 0:10:16.320 of improper political means. Mister Clement said, ultimately it was 0:10:16.400 --> 0:10:19.960 unnecessary for Judge Hoe to settle that dispute. 0:10:19.679 --> 0:10:20.680 Under either view. 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:24.640 He wrote, there was little justification for allowing a potential 0:10:24.760 --> 0:10:28.320 reindictment of the mayor, and that's why he recommended to 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:31.520 the judge that he grant the motion to dismiss. But 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.079 unlike what was requested by the Department of Justice, he 0:10:35.200 --> 0:10:39.439 said that that dismissal should be with prejudice. In other words, 0:10:39.679 --> 0:10:41.880 it was going to be dismissed in a way that 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:44.760 the prosecution could never bring the case down the road, 0:10:45.080 --> 0:10:48.680 and that would eliminate the potential for critics of this 0:10:48.760 --> 0:10:51.760 decision to be able to argue that the Department of 0:10:51.960 --> 0:10:54.439 Justice was trying to have it both ways, was trying 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:57.719 to have the case dismiss now, but leave the prospect 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:01.800 of bringing that indictment down the road in order to 0:11:01.840 --> 0:11:05.200 try to continue to influence the mayor to cooperate with 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:07.559 the Trump administration's immigration policies. 0:11:07.840 --> 0:11:09.920 Stay with me, Bob. Coming up next on the Bloomberg 0:11:10.000 --> 0:11:13.920 Law Show is the judge likely to follow Clement's advice 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:17.319 and the new LA District Attorney does a one to 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:21.880 eighty on his predecessor in the Menendez brother's case. I'm 0:11:21.960 --> 0:11:25.480 June Grosso and you're listening to Bloomberg. New York City 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:29.000 Mayor Eric Adams seems to be one step closer to 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:33.559 getting the criminal charges against him dismissed. That's because Paul Clement, 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:37.480 the former US Solicitor General appointed by the judge to 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:41.199 advise him on the dismissal motion, has recommended the case 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:45.520 be permanently dismissed. I've been talking to former federal prosecutor 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:49.800 Robert Mints of Macarter and English. Bob. Clement wrote that 0:11:50.160 --> 0:11:55.040 if the charges weren't dismissed with prejudice, meaning they couldn't 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:58.960 be brought again, they would hang like the proverbial sort 0:11:59.000 --> 0:12:02.600 of damocles over Adams. But if you have a public 0:12:02.640 --> 0:12:06.400 official who's been charged with corruption and the chargers are 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:10.160 being dropped for political reasons, why should you give him 0:12:10.160 --> 0:12:10.960 this free reign. 0:12:11.840 --> 0:12:14.640 What I think what mister comment was getting at is 0:12:14.679 --> 0:12:18.480 that one of the reasons that the Southern District Prosecutors 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:22.360 objected so strenuously to this dismissal is that they argue 0:12:22.400 --> 0:12:25.959 that in meetings with the Defense Council there was discussions 0:12:26.160 --> 0:12:29.280 that amounted to essentially a quid pro quo. In other words, 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:33.440 there were discussions about the mayor's ability to continue to 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:37.880 cooperate with the Trump administration in its immigration enforcement policies, 0:12:38.080 --> 0:12:40.920 and whether or not the indictment and the trial that 0:12:41.000 --> 0:12:43.840 would be upcoming would interfere as his ability to do that, 0:12:44.040 --> 0:12:47.480 and in acknowledging that it would that obviously, any criminal 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.319 trial of an elected official is going to take away 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:54.000 their attention and their time from carrying out their public duties, 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:57.079 that that was a reason in order to dismiss the 0:12:57.080 --> 0:13:00.400 indictment at this time, the Southern District prosecutor that that 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.600 was essentially a quid pro quot in agreement on the 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:07.200 part of the mayor to support the Trump administration in 0:13:07.320 --> 0:13:10.480 exchange for a dismissal of the criminal charges, and the 0:13:10.520 --> 0:13:13.480 Department of Justice, I think was responding to that by saying, 0:13:13.640 --> 0:13:17.160 we're not asking for a dismissal that is permanent. We're 0:13:17.160 --> 0:13:20.000 not asking to bar the prosecution forever. We're just saying 0:13:20.120 --> 0:13:23.920 it should be dismissed at this time until after the election. 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:26.520 And that's why the Department of Justice was asking for 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:30.640 the dismissal without prejudice. But mister Clement said that the 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:34.640 quid pro quot that was hanging over this whole dismissal 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:38.239 was something that could only be eliminated if the dismissal 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:41.760 was with prejudice, and that way, the argument that the 0:13:41.800 --> 0:13:44.240 mayor would be taking any actions in order to curry 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:48.400 favor with the Trump administration would be removed because there 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:51.080 would be no possibility that the Department of Justice could 0:13:51.080 --> 0:13:53.920 indict him down the road if you failed to cooperate 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:56.679 with the Trump administration's immigration policies. 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:58.959 I mean talk about a get out of jail free 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:02.640 card for Adam because he was accused of agreeing to 0:14:02.679 --> 0:14:05.160 a quid pro quote. Now the whole case is going 0:14:05.160 --> 0:14:07.560 to be dropped against him. It doesn't seem like justice 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:08.880 is being done. 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:11.079 Well, that's a great question, and I think a lot 0:14:11.080 --> 0:14:14.559 of people are very troubled by this whole scenario. Ultimately, 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:18.800 mister Clement concluded that the judge's hands were tied, that 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:22.720 he really had no ability to fight the dismissal. If 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:26.600 the Department of Justice had decided, almost for whatever reason, 0:14:26.920 --> 0:14:30.120 to dismiss the case, the judge had no choice but 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:33.160 to do that, but to follow through and to dismiss 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:37.600 the case. And he even advised against an extensive judicial 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:41.800 investigation into the Department of Justice and actions. In other words, 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.600 he didn't even think it was necessary for the judge 0:14:44.640 --> 0:14:48.760 to delve into the motivations behind the Department of Justice 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.760 to seek the dismissal, or likewise, the motivation for the 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:57.280 former Southern District prosecutors for refusing to follow that directive. 0:14:57.760 --> 0:15:01.320 Mister Clement wrote in his submission to the judge, when 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:06.120 the publicly available information is sufficient to inform judicial decision making, 0:15:06.480 --> 0:15:10.600 there are sound reasons to avoid further inquiries. So he 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:14.720 basically concluded that nothing good could come of digging into 0:15:14.760 --> 0:15:18.120 this further, and that the judge did not have discretion 0:15:18.280 --> 0:15:21.280 here to refuse to dismiss the case, and there was 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:24.720 really no reason to get into this dispute between the 0:15:24.760 --> 0:15:28.600 former Southern District prosecutors and the Department of Justice about 0:15:28.800 --> 0:15:32.240 who was right, who was wrong, who was insubordinate, and 0:15:32.360 --> 0:15:36.200 who was acting properly within ethical guidelines and who was 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.200 acting based upon political motivations. 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:43.200 Adams and his attorneys agreed to sign a paper that 0:15:43.280 --> 0:15:47.400 the charges could be brought against him again, so, in 0:15:47.400 --> 0:15:50.360 other words, that the charges were going to be dismissed 0:15:50.680 --> 0:15:54.440 without prejudice. But now his attorneys have come forward and 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:59.080 said no, they wanted to be dismissed with prejudice. So 0:15:59.400 --> 0:16:03.040 they're going against what they promised the Justice Department. 0:16:03.640 --> 0:16:06.920 Well, sure. What initially happened was the Department of Justice said, 0:16:06.960 --> 0:16:11.440 we'll dismiss the case against their clients without prejudice, and 0:16:11.560 --> 0:16:14.560 any defense lawyer is going to take that. They'd prefer 0:16:14.640 --> 0:16:17.200 to have it be dismissed with prejudice, but if they 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.080 can only get a dismissal without prejudice, they'll take that 0:16:20.200 --> 0:16:22.880 ruther than have the case go forward. What the Adams 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:28.080 defense team thereafter argued was that in the fallout from 0:16:28.120 --> 0:16:31.880 this dismissal order, where the Southern District prosecutors had made 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:35.840 comments about the strength of the case and where the 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:38.800 Department of Justice had attacked the strength of the case, 0:16:39.040 --> 0:16:41.840 that all of that was highly prejudicial to their clients. 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:45.000 And now the situation had changed and there was no 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:47.360 way for Mayor Adams to get a fair trial here, 0:16:47.520 --> 0:16:50.240 and that's why they were seeking dismissal with prejudice. 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:56.440 So now Judge Ho doesn't have to take Paul Clement's suggestion, right, 0:16:56.480 --> 0:16:57.960 he could decide something else. 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:01.760 Absolutely, Judge Ho was not legally bound to accept mister 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:06.120 Clement's recommendation, but he did independently seek out his guidance, 0:17:06.480 --> 0:17:08.920 and it seems likely that he's going to follow the 0:17:09.000 --> 0:17:12.159 recommendation of mister Clement, certainly to the extent that he 0:17:12.240 --> 0:17:16.320 ultimately dismisses the case with prejudice. And I think again 0:17:16.440 --> 0:17:20.240 that resolves the question of the Trump administration or the 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:24.159 Department of Justice using this dismissal as sort of a 0:17:24.200 --> 0:17:27.879 cudgel hanging over the mayor's head to stay to the mayor, 0:17:27.920 --> 0:17:31.000 in so many words, if you don't follow our directive 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:33.639 and if you don't cooperate with the immigration policies of 0:17:33.680 --> 0:17:38.000 his administration. There's always the possibility that this indictment comes 0:17:38.040 --> 0:17:40.560 back again, that it gets reinstated, and that you're once 0:17:40.600 --> 0:17:44.680 again facing criminal charges. By dismissing the case with prejudice, 0:17:44.960 --> 0:17:48.160 that threat is essentially eliminated now. 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:53.439 A watchdog organization, Campaign for Accountability, is calling for an 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:58.680 investigation into the acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Beauvet's order 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:03.480 to dismiss the charges, citing potential violations of New York 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:07.720 Attorney ethics rules and DOJ policies. But that complaint's been 0:18:07.760 --> 0:18:13.639 found with the Office of Professional Responsibility, which Bovey oversees. 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:17.600 As complicated and unprecedented. As this whole dispute is, I 0:18:17.640 --> 0:18:20.359 don't think it's ultimately going to be resolved in the 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:24.040 world of ethics complaints. It's something that really goes beyond 0:18:24.119 --> 0:18:29.160 that and really palls into question what motivations and what 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:33.400 considerations are appropriate for the Department of Justice to take 0:18:33.440 --> 0:18:37.040 into account when deciding whether to prosecute a case in 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:40.880 the first place, or whether to dismiss an existing prosecution. 0:18:41.840 --> 0:18:47.080 Bear in mind, the prosecutors do routinely engage in a 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.639 quid pro quote in the sense that prosecutors will often 0:18:50.720 --> 0:18:53.840 turn to a defendant who's facing multiple charges and say, 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:57.040 if you cooperate with us, we will recommend a lesser 0:18:57.119 --> 0:19:00.800 sentence to the court, or we will dismiss nine of 0:19:00.840 --> 0:19:04.600 the ten charges against you. That is, in some sense 0:19:04.800 --> 0:19:07.520 a quid pro quo, and that you're saying that if 0:19:07.560 --> 0:19:11.400 you cooperate in the criminal investigation, which means provide evidence 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.879 about other crimes about other individuals, agree to testify at 0:19:14.880 --> 0:19:18.480 the trial. In some cases it amounts to wearing a 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:22.879 wire and recording conversations. That is a tool prosecutors used 0:19:23.080 --> 0:19:27.720 all the time. It is incredibly common and almost invariably 0:19:27.760 --> 0:19:31.680 happens in every criminal case where there is a cooperating witness. 0:19:31.800 --> 0:19:33.840 That could be somebody who agrees to cooperate at the 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:36.760 beginning of an investigation, or it could be somebody who 0:19:36.800 --> 0:19:40.800 only agrees to cooperate after they're facing criminal charges themselves. 0:19:40.960 --> 0:19:44.280 But the difference between what's happened here and that type 0:19:44.280 --> 0:19:47.239 of quid pro quo arrangement, if you want to call it, 0:19:47.280 --> 0:19:51.679 that is that the cooperation is limited to the ability 0:19:51.840 --> 0:19:54.800 of the defendant or the person who might be charged 0:19:55.160 --> 0:19:59.400 to further the interests of the investigation itself. It's their 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:03.440 ability to to help prosecutors make their case or expand 0:20:03.480 --> 0:20:06.639 their prosecution. What we're seeing here is a Department of 0:20:06.800 --> 0:20:10.159 Justice staying to a defendant that we are willing to 0:20:10.280 --> 0:20:13.639 trade away a criminal case, not because you confer the 0:20:13.680 --> 0:20:18.600 criminal investigation, but for some other political reason that advances 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:22.320 the ends of the administration. That's something we've really never 0:20:22.359 --> 0:20:24.840 seen before, and we're now going to have to see 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.119 whether that becomes commonplace for the Department of Justice in 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:30.359 handling political corruption prosecution. 0:20:31.080 --> 0:20:36.119 Do you think Clement's recommendation was more about practicalities than 0:20:36.200 --> 0:20:36.920 about the law. 0:20:37.720 --> 0:20:42.600 Ultimately, mister Clement's recommendation to the judge was really more 0:20:42.680 --> 0:20:46.040 practical than it was legal, in the sense that each 0:20:46.119 --> 0:20:49.880 side got something of a partial victory. The government will 0:20:49.880 --> 0:20:55.000 get its dismissal, albeit with prejudice. And those who were 0:20:55.040 --> 0:20:59.760 concerned about the threat that reindictment might mean for the 0:20:59.800 --> 0:21:03.520 man and how that might color his political decisions and 0:21:03.600 --> 0:21:05.879 how he serves his constituents as the mayor of New 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:08.720 York going forward, whether or not to cooperate with the 0:21:08.800 --> 0:21:13.280 Trump administration's immigration policies or not. They get a victory 0:21:13.359 --> 0:21:17.520 because that has been removed by the dismissal with prejudice. 0:21:17.640 --> 0:21:21.119 So no longer is there the continuing threat to reindict 0:21:21.160 --> 0:21:24.160 the mayor if he doesn't cooperate. So what mister Clment 0:21:24.280 --> 0:21:28.000 really did here is he told the judge number one, 0:21:28.040 --> 0:21:31.280 you've got no practical solution here but to follow the 0:21:31.320 --> 0:21:35.040 Department of Justices requests that the case be dismissed. But 0:21:35.160 --> 0:21:38.560 in terms of how you effectuate that dismissal, we're going 0:21:38.600 --> 0:21:41.360 to do something that really gives each side a bit 0:21:41.400 --> 0:21:44.880 of victory. The government gets this dismissal. Those who are 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:48.240 concerned about the quid pro core arrangement no longer has 0:21:48.240 --> 0:21:51.400 to worry about that because that threat has effectively been 0:21:51.440 --> 0:21:53.920 removed by the dismissal with prejudice. 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:58.399 This case got very complicated, very fast. Thanks so much, Bob. 0:21:58.800 --> 0:22:02.080 That's Robert mens I'm maccarter and English. In other legal 0:22:02.119 --> 0:22:06.080 news today, the new district attorney in Los Angeles is 0:22:06.119 --> 0:22:09.399 doing a one to eighty on his predecessor. He's not 0:22:09.680 --> 0:22:14.000 advocating for the resentencing of Eric and Lyle Menendez. The 0:22:14.000 --> 0:22:17.199 Menendez brothers have served more than thirty five years of 0:22:17.240 --> 0:22:19.800 a life sentence for the murder of their parents. 0:22:20.359 --> 0:22:20.600 D A. 0:22:20.760 --> 0:22:24.399 Nathan Hackman said he believes the Menendez brothers do not 0:22:24.520 --> 0:22:27.840 meet the threshold to be released from prison, and that 0:22:27.880 --> 0:22:31.520 they've lied numerous times about the case and the timeline 0:22:31.680 --> 0:22:33.360 leading up to their parents' murders. 0:22:34.119 --> 0:22:38.639 While the Menendez brothers persist in telling these lies for 0:22:38.720 --> 0:22:42.480 the last over thirty years about their self defense defense 0:22:43.080 --> 0:22:46.680 and persist in insisting that they did not suborn any 0:22:46.760 --> 0:22:50.760 perjury or attempt to suborn perjury, then they do not 0:22:50.960 --> 0:22:54.280 meet the standards for Reed's sentencingke. 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:58.359 Hawkman also said the brothers pose an unreasonable risk of 0:22:58.480 --> 0:23:02.240 danger to the community, but if they come clean, he'll 0:23:02.280 --> 0:23:03.200 reconsider his. 0:23:03.200 --> 0:23:09.119 Position unequivocal sincere acknowledgments of all the lives they have 0:23:09.280 --> 0:23:11.840 told for the past over thirty years. 0:23:12.359 --> 0:23:16.880 Family members of the brothers criticized Hawkmann's assertion that they 0:23:17.000 --> 0:23:21.359 don't meet the standards for resentencing Tomorrow. Goodall is a cousin. 0:23:21.800 --> 0:23:25.159 They have always taken ownership of what they chose to 0:23:25.200 --> 0:23:28.360 do given the circumstances of what went on in their 0:23:28.359 --> 0:23:30.159 household as they grow up as a family. 0:23:30.200 --> 0:23:31.720 We believe that they have served their time. 0:23:32.160 --> 0:23:36.040 The resentencing hearing granted by the judge will go forward 0:23:36.160 --> 0:23:41.000 later in March. In addition to pursuing resentencing, the Menendez 0:23:41.040 --> 0:23:45.639 brothers have also submitted a clemency plea to California Governor 0:23:45.680 --> 0:23:48.800 Gavin Newsom. Coming up next on the Bloomberg Law Show, 0:23:49.359 --> 0:23:53.720 a courtroom showdown between Pirella Weinberg Partners and a group 0:23:53.760 --> 0:23:57.640 of former partners who were fired a decade ago. I'm 0:23:57.720 --> 0:24:02.520 June Grosso. When you're listening to Bloomberg. The courtrooms showdown 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:06.800 between Parrella Weinberg Partners and a group of former partners 0:24:06.880 --> 0:24:10.119 who were fired a decade ago has shown the gulf 0:24:10.160 --> 0:24:14.800