US Presidential Elections 2024: Eric Adams’ arrest proves Donald Trump’s claims of biased system to be baseless

With the election season in the US, as the calendar flips to the November 5 presidential elections, the political landscape is shifting. The arrest of New York Mayor Eric Adams has highlighted the holes in the claims by former president Donald Trump that the system was crooked and biased against him and other Republicans.

Adams was indicted on five different federal public corruption charges, and has continued to maintain his innocence, alleging that he is being targeted because of his position.

“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target – and a target I became,” said Adams in a statement after news of his indictment broke on Wednesday night. Notably, even before the charges against Adams were unsealed on Thursday, his official residence was searched by federal agents.

Trump has maintained the existence of a system hell-bent on going after him and has pledged that if he is elected president, he will utilise the Department of Justice (DOJ) to go after his political opponents, CNN reported.

What proves Trump’s claims to be baseless is not just the arrest of Mayor Adams on corruption charges. Neither is it just the conviction of Senator Bob Menendez, the New Jersey Democrat, who was found guilty of distinct corruption and bribery. .

Maybe another fact lends more credence. Something like the fact that the office prosecuting Adams and secured the Menendez conviction, was the same office that in 2021, after Trump left office, not to pursue the former president for violating campaign finance law with hush money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels, CNN reported.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who is an elected official rather than an appointed prosecutor, at last restarted the case using state law on federal campaign finance violations. The former president was eventually convicted on 34 counts of falsifying business records. The sentencing for the conviction is scheduled to be after the presidential elections in late November.

Another example is a case made by Special counsel Jack Smith, appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. Smith’s case dealt with allegations of the former president trying to overthrow the 2020 presidential election results and mishandling classified data. Both cases are stalled in federal courts indefinitely.