With Hunter Biden pardon, Mayor Adams doubles down on claim his indictment is politically motivated

Mayor Adams doubled down on his claim that President Biden’s Department of Justice is politically motivated — touting a front-page New York Times story focusing on the Hunter Biden pardon at a press briefing Tuesday 
“President Biden and President-elect Donald Trump now agree on one thing: The Biden Justice Department has been politicized,” Adams read from the story, holding up a copy of Tuesday’s Times.
“Does that sound familiar? I rest my case,” Adams said with a laugh.
The president’s decision to pardon Hunter Biden came despite repeated assurances he would never take that step and has spurred widespread condemnation and conversations about other last-minute pardons Biden could issue. 
In a statement Sunday, Biden said his son was “selectively, and unfairly, prosecuted” in his two federal cases. “I believe in the justice system, but as I have wrestled with this, I also believe raw politics has infected this process and it led to a miscarriage of justice,” he said.
The mayor has claimed that the five charges he is facing in a federal corruption and bribery indictment were political retaliation for his criticism of Biden over the migrant crisis. 
“There’s almost a level of irony to this all,” Adams said, drawing the parallel between himself and Hunter Biden.
In an opinion piece published by the Wall Street Journal last week, the mayor replied “Yes, I do,” when asked if thought his charges were retribution for criticizing the federal government over migrants.
“People were not happy with me. It doesn’t have to be the president, because there are a lot of other people unhappy that I fought for this city,” he told the outlet. 
Adams, who once called himself the “Biden of Brooklyn,” declined to comment further on this at the press briefing, saying his lawyers have told him not to speak on it. 
“I believe in fighting for my rights,” Adams said. “And this is the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my entire life of the onslaught of this. And I have to remain silent and I can’t answer and defend myself. That’s the hardest thing.”
The corruption investigation into the Adams campaign exploded into public view in November 2023, when federal authorities carried out a number of search warrants — including at the Brooklyn home of Adams’ fundraiser Brianna Suggs. 
The relationship between Biden and Adams had began to sour in 2022 and 2023, with the arrival of thousands of migrants to New York City. In May 2023, Adams was snubbed when left off the list of Biden’s reelection surrogates.
The investigation that would lead to Adams being charged has been underway for more than three years, according to prosecution statements in court and a filing by Adams’ defense team on the timeline for discovery on key documents in the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten said in court on Oct. 2 that  “this is an investigation that began in the summer of 2021. So that’s a period of time essential to the conduct here, but, for reference, it’s before the defendant had even become mayor.”
The Nov. 27 filing echoes the same timeline.
“Given the length of the government’s investigation here (3+ years), the almost certain need for the mayor’s counsel to obtain evidence from overseas … a disclosure deadline eight weeks before trial is the minimum amount of time
that will allow the mayor’s counsel to prepare effectively for trial,” the motion says.
Asked about the timeline Tuesday, Adams declined comment.
The mayor was charged with bribery, wire fraud and secretly soliciting campaign contributions from overseas donors in September. Adams has pleaded not guilty.
Although the mayor has said he believes his changes were politically motivated, his lawyers have not made that argument in court.