Mayor Eric Adams delivers a reside deal with. Metropolis Corridor. Tuesday, February 11, 2025. Credit score: Ed Reed/Mayoral Pictures Workplace
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Performing US legal professional for Manhattan Danielle Sassoon and 5 senior DOJ officers in Washington DC have resigned in protest after the Justice Division moved to drop federal corruption expenses in opposition to Adams earlier within the week.
The Mayor was charged final September with one rely of conspiracy to obtain marketing campaign contributions from overseas nationals and commit wire fraud and bribery, two counts of soliciting marketing campaign contributions from overseas nationals and one rely of soliciting and accepting a bribe.
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the allegations as “explosive” and accused the Mayor of placing New York Metropolis “at risk” in change for the DOJ dropping expenses in opposition to him.
“As long as Trump wields this leverage over Adams, the city is endangered. We cannot be governed under coercion,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote in a publish on X. “If Adams won’t resign, he must be removed.”
“These allegations are damning. An explicit quid pro quo. Mayor Adams backed Trump’s immigration agenda to dodge corruption charges. NYC can’t be led by someone under Trump’s thumb and willing to sell out New Yorkers. Mayor Adams must resign,” Velázquez mentioned in a publish on X.
Alex Spiro, an legal professional representing the Mayor, dismissed allegations of a quid professional quo as a “total lie.”
“We offered nothing, and the department asked nothing of us,” Spiro mentioned in an announcement to CNBC.
Nevertheless, Adams confronted additional criticism from immigration teams Thursday after asserting that he would open Rikers Island to ICE brokers. Adams made the announcement following a gathering with Trump border czar Tom Homan on Thursday and promised to reopen ICE places of work on Rikers Island.
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State Sen. Jessica Ramos and Meeting Member Zohran Mamdani, who’re each difficult Adams within the 2025 mayoral elections, revealed separate statements calling for the Mayor to be faraway from workplace following experiences of the alleged quid professional quo.
Mamdani, citing the allegations, known as on Hochul to take away Adams from workplace, stating that Adams is now endangering New Yorkers.
“Eric Adams’ corruption has become a danger to all New Yorkers. Governor Hochul should remove him from office immediately,” Mamdani mentioned in an announcement
Ramos, however, described Adams as Trump’s “puppet” and mentioned the town wouldn’t be secure till he left workplace.
Meeting Member Jessica González-Rojas known as for Adams to resign or be faraway from workplace, commenting that the dismissal of the federal corruption expenses has left Adams indebted to Trump.
“Enough is enough already. He does not represent our city’s values anymore and is a corrupt Mayor beholden to a corrupt president. He must resign or be removed,” González-Rojas mentioned.
Council Member Tiffany Cabán joined the rising calls amongst Queens politicians for Adams to be faraway from workplace, stating that the Mayor had turn out to be “compromised” by the DOJ’s determination to drop federal corruption expenses in opposition to him.
Cabán additionally known as on the town’s Committee on Mayoral Incapacity to take away Adams from workplace if Hochul proves unwilling to take action.
“This Mayor needs to be removed,” Cabán wrote on X. “It’s past time for Governor Hochul to step in here. And if she won’t, the city’s Committee on Mayoral Inability should. Enough is enough. New York deserves better & shouldn’t have to wait any longer.”
Hochul didn’t rule out utilizing her authority to take away Adams from workplace in an interview with MSNBC Thursday night following the disclosure of the quid professional quo allegations.
Hochul informed host Rachel Maddow that she wished to keep away from making any “knee-jerk, politically motivated action” concerning eradicating the Mayor from workplace.
Nevertheless, she additionally famous that she was “consulting with other leaders in government at this time” on the topic.
Trump, however, denied instructing the DOJ to drop expenses in opposition to Adams, telling reporters Thursday evening that he knew “nothing” about it.
Sassoon resigned late on Wednesday evening after refusing to hold out a dismissal order from high-ranking DOJ official Emil Bove, who beforehand represented Trump within the President’s federal hush-money case.
Bove mentioned Thursday that the DOJ would take over the case from the U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York, including that the DOJ would additionally file a movement in Manhattan federal court docket to dismiss the costs in opposition to the Mayor.
