Subject: Re: Eric Adams case
I heard that the judge was hiring an amicus to provide a more adversarial position because the government and the accused seem to be in a bit too much agreement. I would assume the amicus is going to be on the prosecutorial side. I'm not sure if that is the same as a special prosecutor, but it sounds similar.

The story I read says the judge has appointed a former Solicitor General to argue against dropping the Adams’ charges, citing (not his words) that the current prosecutor is too cozy with the administration.

That SG was under Bush Jr, and is described as “conservative”, but I can’t tell if that means “conservative who believes in the Constitution” or “conservative who will do what Trump wants”. The two are now, obviously, mutually exclusive.

Judge refuses for now to drop Adams charges, appoints outside lawyer

Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general, will examine the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss the bribery case against New York’s mayor.

The federal judge overseeing the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams declined to immediately grant the Justice Department’s request to drop the charges and instead appointed an outside lawyer to argue the case against it.

U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho on Friday chose Paul Clement, a U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush who has typically represented conservative political causes in court, to advise him on the matter.

Ho noted that “there has been no adversarial testing” of the government’s motion to abandon the Adams prosecution — a controversial decision that prompted at least eight federal prosecutors to resign in protest. Those who quit included Danielle Sassoon, the former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York; the lead prosecutor on the case; and most of the leadership of the Justice Department’s public integrity section.


https://www.washingtonpost.com...