By Courtenay Barnett
Myself, a lawyer, I take off my running shoes from a prior, younger time, to enjoy a view of a very special race for me, from the privileged vantage point where I now sit.
Still a fan of athletics on the track, I am extremely enthused by the race I am watching below me (albeit with three politicians running). This time round there are two Americans and a Jamaican vying for the medals – gold, silver and bronze. Before me I see President Donald Trump, Mayor Eric Adams, and the Jamaican Prime Minister, Andrew Holness. All three are competing in this corruption contest and my task is to offer sensible legal commentary as the race proceeds.
President Trump, of course, is the leader of the world’s wealthiest nation, the United States of America. Next to him is Eric Adams, the Mayor of the leading city in the US in financial terms, New York. In the next lane is Andrew Holness, the Prime Minister of Jamaica, a country which continues to face extreme economic challenges.
The gun has been fired and all three are off and running well in the race for most corrupt leader. They are all moving impressively and I shall say how so. Trump has the distinction of having been convicted in a US court. Before we get to conviction, we must note that Trump earned himself the distinction of being the first US President ever to be charged in criminal court and he excelled by being charged fully four times in four criminal cases. Trump became the first US President to be a convicted felon, as of on May 30, 2024. Much more could be said about this contender, but we shall leave it there for now as political interventions have muddied the otherwise pure legal waters. Trump nevertheless remains a strong contender in this corruption race.
We move on. With Eric Adams, Mayor of New York, we are obliged to get directly to the politics, for while he was indicted on very clear evidence, the politics got in the way. It is an intertwined and compromised process, but I am here to focus on the depth and abilities of the competitors. Adams has succeeded in having the top US prosecutorial attorney in Manhattan resign, when the Justice Department directed the New York office to drop a corruption case against him. Additionally, no less than five prosecutors have effected their ‘protest resignations’ in response to the directive. Needless to say – Adams remains a strong contender for the win in this tightly run race.
While Jamaica is known for its prowess in the athletics field, PM Andrew Holness, of Jamaica, is not as well known in the international arena, I feel it is necessary to offer a few additional explanatory words. To adumbrate, Jamaica, under the law, has an Integrity Commission in place under an Integrity Commission Act, which legally requires disclosures from public officials to declare and explain their income and assets while they are in office. Annual declarations are a part of the regiment under which the officials are obliged to operate and comply. In essence, the millions in earnings and assets of PM Holness have, so far, failed to level up
squarely to the declarations so far made by him. Suffice to say that the Integrity Commission is not satisfied with Mr. Holness’s declarations made so far – and Mr. Holness has taken the Commission to court (i.e. seeking to curb the Commission’s on-going probing while refusing to satisfy the declaration stipulations of the Commission while awaiting the court’s determination).
There you have it. The elected officials against the system – and the system scrutinizing the officials, as best can be done, as the race goes on.
First, second or third – we shall see as the race progresses.
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— Courtenay Barnett, an ELR contributor for several years, was born and reared in Jamaica, studied economics and international law at London University, and practiced law in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where he retired and now lives and writes.