Why is Judge Dale Ho playing Sword of Damocles with Eric Adams and NYC voters?

This holdup reeks of politics, or at least of a federal judge fearing political blowback for doing his job.Friday marks three weeks since former US Solicitor General Paul Clement, invited as an amicus curiae, advised Southern District Judge Dale Ho to dismiss the corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams with prejudice — thereby denying the Justice Department the chance to file them again. Clement’s advice came in response to Ho’s own request, including the judge’s deadline of March 7 to weigh in. So, Justice Ho: Why did you want Clement to move promptly, only to go dark yourself?This city, the taxpayers who pay your salary, a sitting mayor and an entire campaign field are waiting for your call — which, per at least one former federal prosecutor, is taking an “unusually long” time. You asked for outside advice; you got it; it was unambiguous — and makes ample sense.And yet here we are, still surrounded by murk. A movie New Yorkers have seen before.Partisan hack state Judge Juan Merchan similarly stalled to keep Donald Trump in legal limbo all last year.

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After leaning heavily in favor of the prosecution in Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s tissue-thin case against Trump, Merchan then refused to sentence him long after handing down his strained-for “guilty” verdict — a refusal that meant Trump couldn’t even file an appeal.Merchan punted until after Trump’s re-election victory, incredibly ordering Trump’s team to file a brief in December before finally letting the case go.The petty partisan game-playing may have pleased Merchan’s political masters, but in no way served the cause of justice.Ho could do one of three things: Order the Adams case to proceed to trial, leave it in limbo (and so hanging over ...