The Daily Insight: February 14, 2025

Welcome to our newsletter. My name is Cerulean and here are today's insights.

Bondi Praises Adams on Immigration and Says Case Will Soon Be Dismissed

Mayor Eric Adams of New York faced increasingly loud calls to resign Friday, after a fuller picture of the arrangement that led to the Justice Department seeking to drop corruption charges against him began to emerge amid a wave of DOJ resignations.

However, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in an interview with Fox News that the case against Mr. Adams would be dropped soon. Any dismissal would have to be approved by the judge overseeing the case, Dale E. Ho of Federal District Court in Manhattan. Ms. Bondi also praised the mayor's recent moves on immigration enforcement, saying that Mr. Adams "is going to keep New York safe."

The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Danielle R. Sassoon, resigned on Thursday rather than heed the Justice Department's order to drop the case. In a detailed letter explaining her rejection of the order, she accused Mr. Adams' lawyers of negotiating for a dismissal in exchange for the mayor's cooperation with President Trump's immigration crackdown.

The lead prosecutor on the investigation, Hagan Scotten, announced his resignation as well, in a scathing, undated letter to Emil Bove III, the acting deputy attorney general, who issued the order to drop the Adams charges. Mr. Scotten wrote that any federal prosecutor "would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials."

He added that he expected Mr. Bove would "eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me."

At least four other Justice Department officials have decided to quit rather than file the motion that would end the prosecution.

Mr. Adams was indicted last year on five counts, including bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. The charges stemmed from an investigation that began in 2021 related to approvals for a new building for the Turkish consulate in Manhattan.

Where Things Stand

• Layoffs escalate: Around 1,000 federal workers were told they were losing their jobs at the Energy Department, and the Internal Revenue Service is preparing to lay off thousands of employees beginning as soon as next week as the Trump administration escalates its effort to slash the size of the federal work force. The job cuts followed an advisory from the government's human resources division telling agencies to terminate most of an estimated 200,000 workers still on probation.
• Covid vaccination: President Trump signed an executive order halting federal funding for schools and universities with Covid-19 vaccination mandates. The order's impact was expected to be muted: No states still require K-12 students to be vaccinated against Covid. And only 15 colleges still require Covid vaccines for students as of last year. The text of the order has not been made public.
• Shift on diversity: Top Education Department officials routinely hailed diversity efforts during Mr. Trump's first administration. "Diversity and inclusion are the cornerstones of high organizational performance," Betsy DeVos, his first education secretary, wrote in a 2020 memo to staff members. But in Mr. Trump's second term, those same principles are now forbidden lexicon - and the employees who supported them are targets.

Stock Market Today: S&P Falls Short of Record, Treasury Yields Decline

Stocks finished the week higher after a mixed Friday in which the S&P 500 fell short of a new record.

In a week dominated by tariff news, earnings reports and inflation data, the S&P 500 gained 1.5%, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 2.6% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.5%.

A report Friday morning showed that retail sales fell by 0.9% in January, a bigger contraction than economists had forecast. The new data followed two hotter-than-expected inflation reports earlier in the week. But many investors seem to be brushing aside the economic data.

Airbnb led the S&P 500 in Friday gains, with the stock rising 14% on the back of a strong earnings report. The index was dragged down by its health-services segment, with DaVita falling around 11%. The Dow was pulled lower by the consumer non-durables sector, with Procter & Gamble sliding 4.8%.

Coinbase shares fell, even after the crypto exchange reported a surge in revenue and profit.

Earlier in the week, President Trump's decision to stop short of immediately imposing new tariffs, plus hopes of a resolution to the Ukraine war, had helped buoy stocks.

In Other Moves:

• Benchmark Treasury yields ticked down. Ten-year yields fell to 4.475%, after retail sales dropped more than expected in January. The yield has fallen for three consecutive weeks.
• Hong Kong stocks rallied further with the Hang Sang Index rising 3.7%. Chinese President Xi will meet with Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma and other business leaders, raising the prospect of easing tensions between Beijing and the private sector.
• The STOXX Europe 600 Index rose 1.8% this week. The index has risen for eight consecutive weeks. It dropped 0.2% during Friday trading.
• Gold fell slightly but traded near all time highs. The precious metal lowered to $2,883 an ounce after setting successive records.
• Meta Platforms shares rose for their 20th consecutive day. The stock ticked up 1.1% on Friday, extending its longest winning streak as a public company.

Hamas Names Hostages It Will Release Saturday, Including American Citizen

The Palestinian militant group Hamas on Friday published the names of three hostages held in the Gaza Strip that it said it would release Saturday as part of a ceasefire deal with Israel, including an American citizen.

Israel confirmed it had received three names from Qatari and Egyptian mediators. They include Sagui Dekel-Chen, 36, the American Israeli dual national; Sasha Alexander Troufanov, 29, who holds Russian and Israeli citizenship; and Iair Horn, 46, who was born in Argentina. All three were residents of Kibbutz Nir Oz, where they were taken by Hamas fighters during the Oct 7, 2023 attack.

The Hamas-run Prisoners Media Office said that in exchange for the hostages Israel was expected to release 369 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.

The announcements appeared to resolve a dispute between Hamas and Israel that had imperiled the ceasefire. Hamas said Monday that it would delay Saturday's release of hostages over alleged Israeli ceasefire violations. U.S. President Donald Trump then warned that "all hell is going to break out" if Hamas did not free hostages by Saturday, threats echoed by Israeli officials.

Here's What Else to Know:

• The committee monitoring the ceasefire between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said Friday that it had conducted "military technical planning" for the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Lebanon "prior" to Feb 18, when Israel is required to withdraw, according to a statement from the committee's co-chair, U.S. Major General Jasper Jeffers. But he seemed to leave open the possibility that the Israeli withdrawal would be delayed, saying that the committee would continue its work toward implementation of the ceasefire beyond Feb 18.
• Unknown assailants attacked a convoy of the U.N. Interim Force in Lebanon, or UNIFIL, near Beirut airport Friday, setting a vehicle on fire and injuring the force's deputy commander. Lebanon's government said it was looking for the attackers. "Such an act of violence threatens the safety of United Nations staff who work tirelessly to maintain stability in Lebanon, sometimes at great personal risk" the U.N. special coordinator for Lebanon, said in a statement.
• More than 350 rabbis signed a full-page ad in the New York Times condemning Trump's call for removing Palestinians from Gaza. Signatories of the ad include several prominent Jewish figures, including comedian and actor Ilana Glazer, actor Joaquin Phoenix and photographer Nan Goldin.

Weekend Read

How The Trumps Turned an Election Victory Into a Cash Bonanza: First lady's documentary deal with Amazon, president's legal settlements and other transactions near $80 million so far; Trump library a major beneficiary.

Weekend Watch

Saturday Night Live, the award winning sketch show, celebrates its groundbreaking 50th anniversary live from New York, featuring musical performances, former cast members, special guests and all-time favorite sketches. The show will be available on NBC and Peacock.

Thank you for joining us. See you tomorrow!

Cerulean Insights