With Wednesday’s dismissal of his federal corruption indictment, Mayor Adams is finally out of the woods from a legal perspective.
But from a political viewpoint, his troubles may only be getting started.
Adams’ mayoral race rivals made clear Wednesday they will continue to paint him as willing to do President Trump’s bidding, a theme given fresh ammunition by Manhattan Federal Court Judge Dale Ho in his dismissal order.
In his ruling, Ho wrote he is permanently dropping the indictment — or “with prejudice” — because he doesn’t have the power to force Trump’s Department of Justice to continue a case it wants to abandon.
But Ho also wrote he’s not opining on whether Adams is “innocent or guilty” and rejected the argument that prosecutors under President Biden were politically motivated in bringing the case, declaring there’s “no evidence” for that claim, which the mayor and Trump’s DOJ have pushed.
In fact, Ho wrote there’s “merit” to the idea that the case should continue and panned the “disturbing” way in which Adams’ reprieve only came after Trump’s DOJ suggested he could get a “special dispensation” if he’d be “compliant” in assisting the president’s “mass deportation” agenda. Since Trump’s DOJ first moved to kill his case in February, Adams has signaled willingness to play ball, including by promising to let ICE agents on Rikers Island.
“Everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the Indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions,” Ho wrote in his 78-page ruling.
That rebuke, along with the widespread condemnation of the DOJ’s efforts to link a decision in a criminal prosecution to a political goal, leaves Adams as politically vulnerable as ever as he faces nearly a dozen challengers in June’s Democratic primary.
Facing record low approval ratings, less than three months to go until the primary election and flagging fundraising, Basil Smikle, a longtime Democratic strategist, argued it’ll be all but impossible for Adams to distance himself from Trump, especially since it’s thanks to Trump that a dismissal of his case before a trial even became possible.
“You can’t un-ring the bell,” Basil Smikle, an ex-New York State Democratic Party executive director, said, noting distaste for Trump is a major issue on New Yorkers’ minds ahead of the June 24 mayoral primary.
“And I feel that New Yorkers are still quite aware that he had charges against him,” Smikle continued. “They may not know all the details but they do remember. That will raise questions in the minds of a lot of voters as to whether he’ll have the ability to be a strong advocate for the city against the Trump administration.”
Adams’ mayoral challengers seized on the dismissal decision to remind New Yorkers of those questions.
“Even the judge in the case agrees: this slimy deal reeks of a quid pro quo with the Trump administration,” Queens Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani, one of Adams’ nine primary challengers, said after Ho’s ruling.
“In exchange for his freedom, Adams has looked the other way while the federal government detains and disappears New Yorkers, steals money from our city, and wages war on working people. Adams should resign in disgrace.”
City Comptroller Brad Lander, another Adams challenger, concurred: “The ruling does not change the facts: Eric Adams works for Donald Trump, not New Yorkers.”
Ho’s reference to a “bargain” echoes the language of ex-Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, who resigned in February rather than drop Adams’ case at Trump officials’ orders due what she described as the “quid pro quo” underpinning the deal. Four of Adams’ own deputy mayors resigned days later over the same concerns.
Shira Scheindlin, a retired Manhattan Federal Court senior judge, told the Daily News that Ho tried with his decision to tell the public that he’s troubled about what has happened.
“He wants to say what he feels. He’s saying although it looks like a corrupt bargain, it looks like a quid pro quo, my hands are tied,” Scheindlin said. “It’s a way of letting the public know that he has these views, but there’s nothing he could do.”
Adams has denied any quid pro quo with the Trump administration and said Wednesday he’d done nothing wrong.
“I’m now happy that our city can finally close the book with this and focus solely on the future of our great city,” Adams said during a brief appearance at Gracie Mansion. “As I have repeatedly said, I have always been solely beholden to the people of this city. No special, special interest, no political opponents, but just everyday New Yorkers, just you. I’m going to continue to do that.”
But Adams, doing little to dispel criticism over Trump, brought a copy of “Government Gangsters,” a book penned by Trump FBI Director Kash Patel, to the brief appearance. The book has been criticized for regurgitating pro-Trump conspiracy theories about a “deep state.”
“I’m going to encourage every New Yorker to read it, read it and understand how we can never allow this to happen to another innocent American,” Adams said, holding up Patel’s book before walking inside his mansion and telling reporters in response to shouted questions: “I’m running for reelection, and you know what? I’m going to win.”
Scott Stringer, the ex-comptroller running against Adams, said in an interview after the dismissal that the mayor should use that confidence and show up to a mayoral forum scheduled for Thursday where most of his challengers will debate. And in a sign his now-dead corruption case is likely to come up at the forum, Stringer warned: “The Eric Adams corruption allegations aren’t going away.”
Amid his legal troubles, Adams has largely stayed off the mayoral campaign trail, not appearing at candidate forum to date.
But after Stringer’s dare, Todd Shapiro, a PR consultant volunteering as a spokesman for Adams’ campaign, said the mayor will attend Thursday’s forum.
A spokesman for ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner in the race to replace Adams, didn’t return a request for comment on the dismissal.
“I respect the decision of the court, that’s about all I have to say,” City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, a newcomer to the mayoral race, said Wednesday while walking into City Hall.
Adams was first indicted on Sept. 26 on charges alleging he took hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes and illegal campaign cash, mostly from Turkish government operatives, in exchange for political favors.
Those favors allegedly included Adams pressuring the FDNY after his 2021 mayoral primary election win to dismiss fire safety violations at Turkey’s consulate in Manhattan so the building could open in time for a visit by the country’s leader, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.
Adams, the first sitting New York City mayor to face criminal indictment in modern history, pleaded not guilty to all the charges and, prior to the Trump DOJ’s intervention, had been scheduled to go on trial on April 21.