Eric Adams sees fortunes turn on Trump actions | The Excerpt
On Wednesday’s episode of The Excerpt podcast: Paste BN Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page discusses what a reprieve for New York Mayor Eric Adams tells us about the Trump era. American school teacher Marc Fogel has been released by Russia after more than three years in custody. Paste BN White House Correspondent Michael Collins discusses worries over Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency gaining access to personal information. Plus, the Education Department will shield federal student aid data from DOGE – for now. Flu cases surge to the highest levels in 15 years. Monty the Giant Schnauzer wins Best in Show at the Westminster Dog Show. Paste BN's 2025 Restaurants of the Year.
Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript beneath it. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.
Podcasts: True crime, in-depth interviews and more Paste BN podcasts right here
Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson. And today is Wednesday, February 12th, 2025. This is The Excerpt.
Today what a reprieve for New York's mayor tells us about the Trump era. Plus, an American teacher has been released by Russia after years in custody. And what critics are worried about if the Department of Government efficiency has access to your personal information.
♦
The Justice Department's directive to drop the criminal prosecution of New York Mayor Eric Adams marks the latest example that relationships, allegiances, and at times vendettas, are in some cases determining who gets targeted and who gets reprieved in the age of President Donald Trump. I caught up with Paste BN Washington Bureau Chief Susan Page for more.
Hello, Susan. Thanks for hopping on today as you're always so kind to do.
Susan Page:
Taylor, it's always good to be with you.
Taylor Wilson:
So Susan, let's just start with some of the basics. What did the Justice Department decide this week as it pertains to Eric Adams?
Susan Page:
Well, the Justice Department sent instructions to the prosecutors in Manhattan to drop the case against Eric Adams, the democratic mayor of the nation's largest city. He had been indicted and was awaiting trial on charges of corruption.
Taylor Wilson:
And in terms of Adams himself, I mean, how did he respond? And Susan, how did we get to this point? Was Adams cozying up to Trump in the weeks prior? I mean, what did we see leading up to this point?
Susan Page:
Once Eric Adams was indicted in September after an investigation that went back three years, he started to become much friendlier with Donald Trump. After the election, he went to Mar-a-Lago and met with him. He attended his inauguration in Washington. He announced that he would not be criticizing Trump, especially on the issue of immigration. And those immigration roundups, those mass deportations that Trump has vowed to pursue, they are particularly controversial in New York City. What Mayor Adams said was he was going to cooperate with that effort. And some say that was a campaign for clemency. If so, it worked with the decision by the Justice Department.
Taylor Wilson:
And Susan, what does this move tell us? What does it show as part of, I guess, Trump's broader, is it fair to say, vendetta/agenda? I mean, have we seen other things like this here in the first few weeks?
Susan Page:
We've seen a different attitude toward the Justice Department than we've had in most modern presidents. Since the Watergate scandal, there's been an effort to enact laws and pursue policies that keep the Justice Department cushioned from political calculations. That's not been the case with President Trump in his opening weeks in office. We saw that on the very first day, hours after his inauguration, when he pardoned nearly all of the January 6th defendants. This is reflected in other aspects of government in his seizing of spending authority from Congress, his efforts to expand territory that in other parts of his presidency, he's also testing the boundaries of presidential power.
Taylor Wilson:
Susan, you're right that there are rising alarms about a potential constitutional crisis in that President Donald Trump and Vice President J.D Vance have suggested the new administration may upend a fundamental legal precept. These are strong words, Susan. What are we talking about here?
Susan Page:
Both of them have suggested that the administration will not necessarily obey court orders. That is if a decision by a federal judge goes against them, they will not necessarily feel obliged to follow it. That is important because our system of checks and balances depends on each of the three branches of government respecting the role of the others. This would be a change from that.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. Susan Page is Paste BN's Washington bureau chief. Folks can find this full piece with a link in today's show notes. Thank you, Susan.
Susan Page:
Hey, thank you.
♦
Taylor Wilson:
American school teacher Marc Fogel has been released by Russia after more than three years in custody. He had been detained following an arrest for medical marijuana possession, and his release comes as part of an agreement between Washington and Moscow that the US said came as a result of talks to end the war in Ukraine. As he took questions in the Oval Office after an executive order signing, Trump declined to say what the US offered Russia to release the American citizen. Trump's administration has been actively working on a plan to end the conflict in Ukraine, though the president has sidestepped questions about whether he's spoken directly to Russian president Vladimir Putin since taking office. He previously threatened to put sanctions on the country if Putin did not enter into negotiations to end the war.
♦
Elon Musk and the Department of Government Efficiency want access to your personal information. Critics are worried. I spoke with Paste BN White House correspondent Michael Collins to learn more.
Michael, thank you so much for making some time on this, sir.
Michael Collins:
Thanks for having me.
Taylor Wilson:
Michael, we know this has been contentious. In fact, a judge made a decision over the weekend as it pertains to this. What was the decision there and what's really the latest in the courts?
Michael Collins:
It resulted from a lawsuit that was filed by 19 attorneys general. They filed suit to keep Elon Musk and his team from accessing this information. They are concerned about him having access to confidential information that historically has been off limits to all, but only a handful of career government employees. They say he's unauthorized to get it. They're also concerned about what he might do with it. He could use this information to block federal grants for health clinics, preschools, climate initiatives, and a whole host of other programs.
And so the judge held a hearing and he decided that they, at least for now, had been able to make their case that there was a significant risk here. So the judge put in place a temporary restraining order that prevents Elon Musk and his team from accessing this system. There is a hearing that is scheduled for Friday and the judge has asked members of the Trump administration to come and explain why this temporary restraining order should not be continued and why Elon Musk and his team should in fact have access to this system.
Taylor Wilson:
So then Michael, if the courts don't put a more firm stop to this, I mean, what personal information could Musk and his team really have access to here?
Michael Collins:
Well, there's just an astounding volume of private data in this system on the lives of millions of Americans. And if Elon Musk and his team are allowed to access this, they will be able to see all of that. I'm talking about things that are very personal, very confidential information. For example, if you've got a tax refund, they would be able to access not only your tax information, but they could see your banking account and the routing numbers. If you're paying off a student loan or a government-backed mortgage, they would be able to see that too. If you get a Social Security check or receive Medicare benefits or other benefits like SNAP, which we used to call food stamps, they could see all of that. And if you work for the federal government or have even gotten the government grant or a contract, they would be able to see all of that information.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, as you write in this piece, Michael, public interest groups really say that Americans have the right to expect that private information entrusted to the government will remain private. We've talked through this a little bit, Michael, but what are their concerns specifically as it pertains to this info?
Michael Collins:
Well, again, primary concern is what Musk and his team want to do with this. And as I've said, we just don't know. We're talking about things like Social Security numbers, tax records, all of these things that Americans keep confidential. There's also a fear that he or the Trump administration could take this information and use it to try to target critics of the administration. So they're really concerned about what he might be doing with it.
Taylor Wilson:
And Michael, there are concerns over conflict of interest, right? I mean, Elon Musk has his feet in so many different pools and the businesses that he runs. Can you talk through that a little bit? Concerns over conflict of interest here?
Michael Collins:
He absolutely does. Elon Musk owns a number of companies, probably the most commonly known are Tesla, his aerospace company called SpaceX, and he owns the social media platform that we used to call Twitter, which he is renamed as X. These companies that he owns have gotten billions of dollars in government contracts, particularly SpaceX. And so the fear is that you have this guy who's getting these government contracts, now all of a sudden he's going to be able to look at the financial records of his competitors. So what if he decides that the government shouldn't be paying his competitors and tries to stop those payments? Or what if he were to say that his competitors are wasting government money and that they shouldn't be getting any government contracts? So there's just the potential here for all kinds of conflicts.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, and Michael, there's also been this curious aspect to the Doge team where there's some really inexperienced people as part of these efforts. There's even a recent high school graduate as part of the team. Why are some concerned about that?
Michael Collins:
Well, there are several members of Elon Musk's team who are fresh out of college. And as you said, in one case, there is one person who just recently graduated from high school. We must note that he also has a lot of people working for him who are various season operatives. These people have been around, they have experience. So the concern is not with them. The concern is you have a lot of young people working and having access to this information and they may not fully grasp what they have at their fingertips. They may not know how to properly handle it. They may not realize why it needs to be kept confidential. So there's just some real concerns that you have young, inexperienced people having access to information that is very private, very confidential, that affects the lives of millions of Americans.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. This was a great step back piece. Michael Collins is a White House correspondent with Paste BN. Thank you, Michael.
Michael Collins:
Thank you very much.
Taylor Wilson:
The education department yesterday said it would not allow any members of the Department of Government efficiency to see or use information from federal student aid databases until next Monday. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
♦
Influenza levels in the US are the highest they've been in 15 years as winter weather continues and the second wave of the virus causes more and more infections according to the CDC. The most recent CDC Weekly US Influenza Surveillance report shows that 7.8% of visits to a healthcare provider were for respiratory illness. The worst since the swine flu pandemic in late 2009. And flu infections are growing or likely growing in 15 states. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
♦
The 149th Annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show returned to Madison Square Garden in New York for the first time in five years this week, and one dog stood above the rest. Monty the giant Schnauzer was named Best in Show yesterday ahead of more than 2,500 dogs across 200 breeds during two days of competition. His win made history. Monty is the first giant Schnauzer to ever win best in show, and the first working group dog to win Best in Show since 2004, ending the longest drought of any particular group. You can check out pictures of Monty on usatoday.com.
♦
What's the best restaurant in your neck of the woods? From Phoenix to Detroit, Palm Springs to Pensacola, newsrooms across our network banded together to put the spotlight on the best restaurants across the country. The results a list of 45 must-try places. We have a link in today's show notes.
♦
Visually, icebergs can be stunning to witness. But did you know they also produce songs?
Vera Schlindwein:
The songs start with high tones and then they get lower and lower as the icebergs slow down.
Taylor Wilson:
That's Geophysicist Vera Schlindwein, professor of Polar and Marine Seismology at the University of Bremen in Germany. Vera and her team were targeting underground seismic activity recently when they stumbled upon the ethereal sounds produced by icebergs. What do these sounds reveal? You can hear a conversation with my colleague Dana Taylor, right here on this feed today, beginning at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
♦
And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio. And if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson, and I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from Paste BN.