Eric Adams Faces Pressure to Resign After Indictment

Happy Monday! We were relieved to learn that the walking, talking, bartending, 6-foot-tall humanoid robots at a Tesla event last week were likely remote-controlled by humans, rather than actually powered by artificial intelligence.

It’d be a real shame for the AI apocalypse to come just three weeks before the election that everyone is so excited about.

Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories

• Law enforcement officials arrested a 49-year-old man at a checkpoint near former President Donald Trump’s rally in California’s Coachella Valley on Saturday, finding he was “illegally in possession of a shotgun, a loaded handgun, and a high-capacity magazine.” The man reportedly also possessed fake press and VIP credentials, and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco told reporters Sunday that the arrest “probably prevented” a third assassination attempt against Trump in recent months. The U.S. Secret Service and FBI issued a joint statement about the incident, concluding that it “did not impact protective operations” and that “former President Trump was not in any danger.”
• President Joe Biden ordered the Defense Department on Sunday to deploy a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery—an anti-ballistic missile defense system usually consisting of six truck-mounted launchers and 48 interceptors—to Israel, along with about U.S. 100 troops to operate it. Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said its deployment would assist in Israel’s defense against attacks from Iran. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly yet to decide how Israel will retaliate for Iran’s October 1 ballistic missile attack on the country—but a THAAD system could serve to help protect Israel if Tehran chooses to strike Israel again.
• The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said on Sunday that a Hezbollah drone attack killed four Israeli soldiers and injured more than 60 others at an army base near the northern Israeli city of Binyamina. The Times of Israel reported that Hezbollah had launched two drones, and, while IDF defenses successfully intercepted one, they ultimately lost track of the second, which was assumed to have crashed. Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the attack and threatened to unleash more against Israel if it continued operations in southern Lebanon. Meanwhile, the IDF announced on Saturday that an Israeli soldier was killed in fighting in the southern Gaza Strip over the weekend. 
• The United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) said that a U.N. peacekeeper was shot and injured on Friday night at its base in southern Lebanon. The source of the gunfire remains unclear, though the organization noted there was “ongoing military activity nearby.” On Sunday, UNIFIL claimed that two IDF tanks forcibly entered a separate U.N. base in southern Lebanon—destroying its main gate—and remained for 45 minutes despite U.N. employees asking them to leave. In response, the IDF said one of its tanks reversed “several meters” into a UNIFIL post while evacuating two injured Israeli soldiers and taking incoming fire. “Throughout the entirety of the incident,” the IDF said, “no danger was posed to UNIFIL forces by the IDF activity.”
• Citing internal Hamas documents, the New York Times reported Saturday that the terrorist group had attempted to recruit Iran and Hezbollah, the Tehran-backed terrorist group in Lebanon, to join its October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel. Hamas apparently even delayed the cross-border massacre—initially planned for fall 2022—in an effort to bring Iran and Hezbollah on board. Though Hamas ultimately carried out the attacks without Iran or Hezbollah’s direct participation, the report indicates both entities were “supportive in principle” of the planned assault. 
• The Biden administration on Friday issued new sanctions against Iran in retaliation for the country’s October 1 ballistic missile attack on Israel, targeting entities involved in the trade and transportation of Iranian petroleum and Iranian “Ghost Fleet” vessels that smuggle Iranian oil to sell in Asia. “Following that reckless attack, we made clear that Iran would face severe consequences,” National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement. In addition, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the U.S. will issue further sanctions against those who abet Iran’s oil business.
• Ukrainian authorities said Friday that a Russian missile attack on the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa struck a commercial building and killed four civilians—including a 16-year-old girl—and injured ten others. Last week alone, Ukrainian officials reported that Russian strikes killed 14 civilians in the Odesa region as Moscow targets grain shipments from Ukraine. According to regional authorities, Russian forces are targeting foreign-flagged ships from small countries that would be unlikely to retaliate against Russia, including Panama, Palau, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. 
• The Justice Department announced on Friday that former U.S. Army Pvt. Cole Bridges had been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for trying to provide material support and guidance to the Islamic State while enlisted in the armed services. The 24-year-old was arrested in January 2021—after communicating with an undercover FBI agent posing as an ISIS supporter—and pleaded guilty in June 2023. “Cole Bridges used his U.S. Army training to pursue a horrifying goal,” said U.S. attorney Damian Williams. “The brutal murder of his fellow service members in a carefully plotted ambush.”
• The Justice Department on Friday sued the state of Virginia and state election officials, challenging a decision to remove ineligible voters from voter registration records. In early August, Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin ordered election officials to send notices to registered voters identified by state officials as noncitizens, warning them they would have their voter eligibility revoked unless they were able to prove their citizenship. The Justice Department says the order violated the “Quiet Period Provision” of the National Voter Registration Act, which prohibits systemic changes to voter registration in the 90-day leadup to Election Day. In response, Youngkin called the suit “a desperate attempt to attack the legitimacy of the elections.”
• President Joe Biden traveled to Florida on Sunday to survey the damage from Hurricanes Milton, which made landfall last week, and Helene, which hit the state last month. While there, he announced $612 million for power grid and energy projects in states affected by the two storms. More than a million customers are still without power in Florida, and the death toll from Hurricane Milton stands at 17 people.
• SpaceX’s Starship—the biggest and most powerful rocket ever built—successfully completed its fifth-ever flight test on Sunday, with the rocket booster safely returning to its launchpad. Upon its return, two giant robotic arms grabbed the booster in mid-air in a complicated “chopsticks” maneuver. SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space exploration company, said Sunday the uncrewed test was intended to demonstrate Starship’s “fully and rapidly reusable design,” with the goal of eventually landing on Mars.
• The right-wing website Gateway Pundit published a short post on Saturday acknowledging there was “no widespread voter fraud” by Georgia election workers in the 2020 election. Editor and founder Jim Hoft’s admission came days after the company reached a settlement with two former Georgia election workers—Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss—who sued the online site for defamation after Gateway Pundit published articles accusing the pair of criminal voter fraud. While the terms of the agreement weren’t made public, Hoft said it was a “fair and reasonable settlement.”

Adams in the Hot Seat

Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams is defiant after a grand jury handed up a five-count indictment against him last month. “I think when both sides of this come out, people are going to have a second look at this entire event that’s taking place,” he said at a Tuesday press conference. 

Adams is also, possibly improbably, a believer in his own political future. “I am going to serve my term and run for the election,” he proclaimed.

With less than a year to go until New York City’s mayoral primaries, it’s an open question as to whether Adams will be able to serve out his current term—much less secure a second one. After his indictment last month by federal prosecutors, high-profile members of the mayor’s administration continue to jump ship as New York’s Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul weighs his removal.

Late last month, federal prosecutors announced they were charging Adams with bribery, campaign finance offenses, and conspiracy. In allegations stretching back to Adams’ time as …

As a non-paying reader, you are receiving a truncated version of The Morning Dispatch. Our 1,820-word item on the embattled New York City mayor is available in the members-only version of TMD.

Worth Your Time

• The online reaction to the recent hurricanes in the U.S. revealed something dark about the state of American discourse, and it’s not pretty. “The truth is, it’s getting harder to describe the extent to which a meaningful percentage of Americans have dissociated from reality,” Charlie Warzel wrote in The Atlantic. “Even in a decade marred by online grifters, shameless politicians, and an alternative right-wing-media complex pushing anti-science fringe theories, the events of the past few weeks stand out for their depravity and nihilism. As two catastrophic storms upended American cities, a patchwork network of influencers and fake-news peddlers have done their best to sow distrust, stoke resentment, and interfere with relief efforts. But this is more than just a misinformation crisis. To watch as real information is overwhelmed by crank theories and public servants battle death threats is to confront two alarming facts: first, that a durable ecosystem exists to ensconce citizens in an alternate reality, and second, that the people consuming and amplifying those lies are not helpless dupes but willing participants.” 
• Writing in National Review, Jack Butler asked, “If you could get all the benefits of exercise with none of the work, would you do it?” This question may no longer be purely hypothetical. “Regarding the supposed miracle pill, the New York Post recently reported on a study by Danish researchers in which they claimed to have developed a molecule that can re-create some of the effects of strenuous activity on the human body—without the strenuous activity. … When these studies get attention, though, it’s usually for their more exciting potential to herald the end of the need for exercise.” What’s the problem with that? “Rather than offering a pathway back to health for those who need one, they could encourage shortcuts to fitness. A drug that promises to replicate the boons of exercise and a mindset that looks for the smallest possible amount of exertion that still produces some of its benefits don’t just neglect the full range of health possibilities offered by a truly active lifestyle. They also shortchange our possibilities as human beings.”

Presented Without Comment

Former President Donald Trump, speaking to Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo: 

Well, I always say, so, we have two enemies: We have the outside enemy, and then we have the enemy from within. And the enemy from within, in my opinion, is more dangerous than China, Russia, and all these countries. Because if you have a smart president, he can handle them pretty easily. I handled, I got along great with all—I handled them. But the thing that’s tougher to handle are these lunatics that we have inside like Adam Schiff, Adam “Shifty” Schiff. … But I call him the enemy from within.

In the Zeitgeist

Kenyan runner Ruth Chepngetich made history on Sunday at the Chicago Marathon, breaking the women’s world record with a time of 2:09:56—nearly two minutes faster than the previous record. And just to prove she had some juice left, she grabbed the Kenyan flag and ran some more. 

Toeing the Company Line

• Mark your calendars: Steve and Jonah’s annual “State of The Dispatch”—with a special fifth-anniversary twist—will take place during Dispatch Live (🔒) on Tuesday evening. Get your questions ready—we’ll have more details on how to tune in tomorrow.
• In the newsletters: The Dispatch Politics crew finished up their Pennsylvania swing, Jonah explored an untapped market for Hollywood’s villains, Nick explained why (🔒) Trump’s national popular support may be on the rise, Chris dug into (🔒) the GOP’s favorable outlook in the 2024 Senate races, and in Dispatch Faith, Samuel D. James argued that a desire to control can obscure our dependence on God and each other. 
• On the podcasts: Jonah ruminated on The Dispatch’s fifth anniversary and the contradistinction between patriotism and nationalism. 
• On the site over the weekend: Isabel Soto reviewed Mike Madrid’s new book, Latino Century, which explores why Latinos have shifted rightwards in the Trump era, and Anastasia Boden argued that Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch’s new book, Over Ruled: The Human Toll of Too Much Law, understates the Supreme Court’s responsibility to strike down bad law. 
• On the site today: Seth Masket explores the history of political realignments—and whether we’re currently living through one—in this week’s Monday Essay.