Adams is the latest controversy trapped in foreign corruption

Mayor Adams' corruption indictment involving the Turkish government seems like weak tea compared to other recent scandals.

But it also shows how intertwined the American ruling class has become with foreign governments and foreign money.

Adams is accused of obtaining more than $120,000 in international business class air travel and other perks from Turkey, while accepting campaign donations from illegal foreign sources and obtaining matching public funds on this basis.

Prosecutors say he used his authority to grant various favors to President Recep Tayyip Erdoan's regime in return.

(Adams argues, plausibly, that the charge is payback for his criticism of Biden-Harris immigration policies, though that doesn't mean he's not guilty and the Turkish gifts were not only tips.)

But Adams isn't even the advice of the iceberg: it looks more like one of the small frozen pieces that float around it.

Because the truth is, American politics, all the way to the top, is riddled with corruption and foreign money on a scale that dwarfs the alleged misdeeds of the Hizzoners.

Across the Hudson, the trial of Senator Bob Menendez (D-New Jersey) revealed an extravaganza of gold bars and envelopes stuffed with cash (complete with a Mercedes and, bizarrely, carpet in the basement) in exchange for favors.

It was after a previous The jury was deadlocked on a series of previous accusations against Menendez involving gifts and trips to the Dominican Republic.

Menendez resigned from the Senate after being convicted of federal corruption for acting as an agent of the Egyptian government.

Hunter Biden's ties to the Ukrainian company Burisma and a number of Chinese companies are well known, as are allegations that Joe Biden is a direct beneficiary.

An analysis of Hunter's laptop and other documents revealed that he raised at least $11 million from these and other questionable foreign sources between 2013 and 2018.

Just this week, we learned that whistleblowers within the Department of Homeland Security have expressed serious concerns about Kamala's running mate Tim Walz's numerous visits to China while he was a member of the military American, and his expressed admiration for the Chinese communist system.

You can't make this stuff up, and unfortunately you don't have to.

Meanwhile, the Brooklyn U.S. Attorney's Office has prosecuted a dozen cases over the past four years involving covert Chinese influence in U.S. government and institutions.

A Chinese secret police station even operated for a time in a Manhattan building.

Linda Sun, a former aide to Governor Hochul (D-NY), was accused of serving as an agent of the Chinese government, pushing PRC policy in Albany, and working against Taiwanese officials in exchange of large sums of money and periodic deliveries of salted duck. .

(Hey, it's delicious).

It would have prevented the State of New York from denouncing the Chinese genocide of the Uighurs.

China's approach has been characterized geostrategic corruptionwhich he uses all over the world, not just in the United States.

But it is certainly do use it quite extensively here.

And other countries appear to be following China's lead: Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) has been accused of taking money from a Mexican bank and an Azerbaijani state oil company to promote favorable policies in Congress.

It seems like you can't get things done at any level of our government without finding some sort of foreign influence at play. just the way business is done Today.

But why?

Perhaps that's because the world is so much more interconnected: Fifty years ago, China had few ties to the United States.

A Clinton-era initiative made it a major trading partner, opening many more avenues for interaction and corruption.

At the same time, American politics has become more open to influence.

Party organizations weakened, the end of the Cold War made interactions with historical adversaries easier, and big money played an increasing role in American politics and social hierarchies in general.

A partisan press has toned down scandals among favored politicians, as well as its handling of the Biden family's questionable business dealings.

And complaints about money coming from abroad can easily be deflected by false claims that the accusations are racist or based on cultural stereotypes.

(Remember how such accusations squelched specific suspicions that COVID-19 came from a Chinese lab.)

But while the normalization of payola may be lucrative for our ruling class, it poses a major vulnerability for the rest of us.

A more interconnected world is also a world in which more potential adversaries will attempt to gain an advantage.

Israel decimated Hezbollah by turning its trusted devices, like pagers and walkie-talkies, into instruments of doom.

Foreign money could do the same thing in the United States, turning trusted politicians and institutions against our best interests.

This must stop.

Glenn Harlan Reynolds is a law professor at the University of Tennessee and founder of the blog InstaPundit.com.