Why Is the Media Downplaying the Thursday Afternoon Massacre?

Six high-ranking Justice Department officials, including Manhattan’s interim U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon—a Republican, Federalist Society member, and former clerk for Justice Scalia—resigned yesterday afternoon rather than comply with orders from the Trump administration to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The move marks the most significant rebellion yet against President Trump’s efforts to assert control over the Justice Department since taking office last month, though it remains unclear whether it will curb his efforts.

The crisis erupted when Emil Bove III, the DOJ’s acting No. 2 official—and Trump’s former defense lawyer—ordered prosecutors to drop the case against Adams, citing political rather than legal reasons.

In any other administration, at any other time in American history, this would be grounds for impeachment. Yet while it’s the top story in The New York Times—because it concerns a local politician—it appears below the fold in The Washington Post, as a minor story at the bottom of the Wall Street Journal, absent from the front pages of the Los Angeles Times and Fox News, and nowhere to be found in the Philadelphia Inquirer (though, to be fair, they’re preoccupied with the Eagles parade today).

Again: the No. 2 official in the Department of Justice—and the president’s former defense attorney—explicitly directed the U.S. Attorney’s office to drop the case against Adams, not because Adams was innocent, but because the prosecution was interfering with his ability to support Trump’s immigration enforcement agenda and improperly affecting the upcoming mayoral election.

Sassoon, in a scathing letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, called the order “inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor.” She also revealed that prosecutors had been preparing additional charges against Adams for allegedly destroying evidence and instructing others to lie to the FBI. When Bove attempted to reroute the dismissal through the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, five more officials, including its leadership, resigned rather than comply.

Six officials—some of them Republicans—chose resignation over following a clearly corrupt order. What’s even more remarkable is that Trump didn’t simply pardon Adams, which would have been outrageous but at least within his executive power. Instead, the administration asked the U.S. Attorney’s office to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning they can refile charges at any time. In other words, they have Adams by the throat. They can make him do whatever they want. The mayor of New York City is now the president’s pawn.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has not ruled out removing Adams. It’s insane that she hasn’t already.

My bigger concern, frankly, is why the media isn’t treating this as the massive scandal it so obviously is. Six DOJ officials resigned. There is a blatant quid pro quo between the president and the mayor of New York City. A mayor who is, ostensibly, a Democrat. Am I insane for thinking this is a big deal? Or has the media already been so cowed by Trump that they’re afraid to report on it? Or—and this, honestly, seems the most likely explanation—has the media (and, by extension, the American public) simply resigned itself to the idea that this is just how America works now? That everything is transactional? That immigrants are bad? And that a little corruption is acceptable as long as it means fewer undocumented immigrants?

At the end of the day, the media responds to public interest. If the audience isn’t outraged or engaged, the story dies. And after years of escalating political scandals, it’s possible that Americans — especially outside the NYC — have just accepted that this kind of corruption is the new normal. The real question is: What would it take for the media to care? Because if six DOJ resignations over a quid pro quo between Trump and a Democratic mayor don’t cut it, what the hell even does anymore?