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Gov. Kathy Hochul could use her authority to remove New York City Mayor Eric Adams from office amid allegations that his legal team traded cooperation with President Donald Trump's immigration policies for having his federal corruption charges dropped.
During an MSNBC interview on Thursday (February 13), Hochul said she wouldn't make any “knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction" against Adams, but noted that she was "consulting with other leaders in government" to possibly remove him from office.
“This just happened,” Hochul said, calling the allegations against Adams "extremely concerning and serious." “I need some time to process this and figure out the right approach.”
Hocul's comments came after Danielle Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned from her post following an order by the Trump administration to dismiss the charges against Adams. Earlier this week, the Department of Justice directed Adams' charges, citing the timing of the prosecution and how it was hampering the mayor's ability to assist with Trump's immigration agenda. The DOJ said its directive was not “assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based.”
In a letter to U.S. Attorney Pam Bondi, Sasson accused Adams' legal team of promising to cooperate with Trump's immigration crackdown in exchange for dropping the case. Sasson noted that Adams' lawyers suggested the mayor "would be in a position to assist with the [Justice] Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed" during a meeting last month with her team and acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
Adams' attorney denied the claim, saying it was “a total lie.”
"It took her three weeks to report in front of her a criminal action?" Adams said Friday (February 14) on Fox News. "C'mon, this is silly." The mayor has long denied wrongdoing in the case.
Hochul's remarks also came amid Adams' announcement that he was issuing an executive order to allow U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to operate at the Rikers Island jail complex. The move sparked more calls for the mayor to resign or be removed.
During her interview with MSNBC, Hochul said she was taking time to think over next steps.
“We’ve got to have one sane person in this state who can cut through all the crap and say, ‘What does my responsibility guide me to do?’” she said.
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