Following the dismissal of federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, elected officials across Queens have called for his removal from office. The Department of Justice’s decision to drop the case has raised concerns among prominent Democrats, who allege that President Donald Trump now holds political leverage over the mayor.
Acting US attorney for Manhattan Danielle Sassoon and five senior DOJ officials in Washington DC have resigned in protest after the Justice Department moved to drop federal corruption charges against Adams earlier in the week.
The Mayor was charged last September with one count of conspiracy to receive campaign contributions from foreign nationals and commit wire fraud and bribery, two counts of soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals and one count of soliciting and accepting a bribe.
A number of Queens Democrats expressed concern after NBC News reported Thursday evening that it had obtained a letter from Sassoon alleging that Adams engaged in a “quid pro quo” with the Justice Department, alleging that attorneys representing Adams indicated that the Mayor “would be in a position to assist with Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed.”
U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez described the allegations as “explosive” and accused the Mayor of putting New York City “at risk” in exchange for the DOJ dropping charges against 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 post on X. “If Adams won’t resign, he must be removed.”
U.S. Rep. Nydia Velázquez, meanwhile, called on the Mayor to resign from office, again citing the allegations obtained by NBC News.
“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 said in a post on X.
Alex Spiro, an attorney representing the Mayor, dismissed allegations of a quid pro quo as a “total lie.”
“We offered nothing, and the department asked nothing of us,” Spiro said in a statement to CNBC.
However, Adams faced further criticism from immigration groups Thursday after announcing that he would open Rikers Island to ICE agents. Adams made the announcement following a meeting with Trump border czar Tom Homan on Thursday and promised to reopen ICE offices on Rikers Island.
State Sen. Jessica Ramos and Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, who are both challenging Adams in the 2025 mayoral elections, published separate statements calling for the Mayor to be removed from office following reports of the alleged quid pro quo.
Mamdani, citing the allegations, called on Hochul to remove Adams from office, 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 said in a statement
Ramos, on the other hand, described Adams as Trump’s “puppet” and said the city would not be safe until he left office.
“Today’s news made it clear that Mayor Adams now works for Donald Trump, not New Yorkers. So much of Trump’s agenda would hurt New Yorkers. We won’t be safe until Gov. Hochul uses her power to remove Eric Adams from office. We like puppets on Sesame Street, not City Hall,” Ramos said on X.
Assembly Member Jessica González-Rojas called for Adams to resign or be removed from office, commenting that the dismissal of the federal corruption charges 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 said.
Council Member Tiffany Cabán joined the growing calls among Queens politicians for Adams to be removed from office, stating that the Mayor had become “compromised” by the DOJ’s decision to drop federal corruption charges against him.
Cabán also called on the city’s Committee on Mayoral Inability to remove Adams from office if Hochul proves unwilling to do so.
“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 did not rule out using her authority to remove Adams from office in an interview with MSNBC Thursday evening following the disclosure of the quid pro quo allegations.
Hochul told host Rachel Maddow that she wanted to avoid making any “knee-jerk, politically motivated action” regarding removing the Mayor from office.
However, she also noted that she was “consulting with other leaders in government at this time” on the subject.
Trump, on the other hand, denied instructing the DOJ to drop charges against Adams, telling reporters Thursday night that he knew “nothing” about it.
Sassoon resigned late on Wednesday night after refusing to carry out a dismissal order from high-ranking DOJ official Emil Bove, who previously represented Trump in the President’s federal hush-money case.
Bove said Thursday that the DOJ would take over the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, adding that the DOJ would also file a motion in Manhattan federal court to dismiss the charges against the Mayor.
