Adams claims vindication but his political future remains uncertain

Mayor Eric Adams took a victory lap on Tuesday after the Department of Justice ordered prosecutors to drop the bribery charges against him. File photo by Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Unit 

By Ryan Schwach

Mayor Eric Adams claimed victory during an address on Tuesday afternoon, less than 24 hours after President Donald Trump’s Department of Justice called on prosecutors to at least temporarily drop the bribery and corruption charges brought against Adams last year.

However, despite his attempts to claim vindication, it remains unclear what the move may mean for Adams’ reputation among voters and other elected officials across the city, many of which used the news out of the DOJ on Monday to reiterate their accusations that the mayor is ill equipped continue his term as the city’s top official.

Fueling the fire on Tuesday was Adams’ reportedly successful attempt to curry Trump’s favor as he faced the five count indictment brought by prosecutors in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. In a letter released late Monday, the DOJ instructed prosecutors to cease their work on the case and request the charges be dropped at least until after the November election, when they can decide whether or not to refile them.

Despite the potential for the charges to be brought again, Adams spoke about the case purely in the past tense, calling it a “baseless” and “cruel” pursuit against an innocent man. He finished his address with a message to New Yorkers, asking that they trust him to continue running the city.

“The Department of Justice has directed that the case against me be dismissed, finally ending a months-long saga that put me, my family and the city through an unnecessary ordeal,” the mayor said. “As I said from the outset, I never broke the law, and I never would. I would never put any personal benefit above my solemn responsibility as your mayor.”

“I never asked anyone to break the law on my behalf or on behalf of my campaign,” he added.

In a letter to prosecutors on Monday, the DOJ ordered the charges against Adams – which accused him of accepting bribes and benefits from the Turkish government in exchange for favors – be dropped.

The DOJ order also made it clear that the agency under Trump has sided with Adams and his accusation that the investigation into his campaign was brought on by his disapproval of former President Joe Biden’s handling of the migrant crisis.

“It cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior administration’s immigration policies before the charges were filed,” said the letter, which was written by Emil Bove, one of Trump’s former criminal defense attorneys who now serves as the acting deputy attorney general, the second-highest ranking position in the DOJ.

While the Justice Department said that their request for the dismissal was not based on the "strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based,” neither of which they have assessed, they ordered that prosecutors review the case after the November election is completed.

Until then, Bove said there “shall be no further targeting of Mayor Adams or additional investigative steps.”

With the election of Trump – who has said that the multiple criminal and civil cases brought against him and his allies were the result of a “weaponized” Biden Justice Department – it seemed clear for some time that some form of presidential interference in Adams’ case was inevitable.

For months, Adams refrained from criticizing Trump publicly, and reportedly gathered nearly all of the top officials in his administration on Monday and ordered them not to publicly bash the president.

With the case out of Adams’ view for now, the mayor turned his eyes toward New Yorkers on Tuesday. For months, Adams’ approval rating has plummeted while his polling and fundraising in a crowded Democratic mayoral primary hasn’t been strong for an incumbent.

During his address Tuesday, Adams attempted to regain the public’s trust.

“I also understand that many New Yorkers will still question my character,” he said, claiming that the city has improved under his watch, even while he faced what he called an “unfortunate persecution.”

“Dedicating myself to the values and fights that New Yorkers believe in, is how I will restore the faith in those who have lost it in me, and it will be how I reward the faith of those who believed in me for four years ago,” he added.

But Adams’ attempts to win back voters may be too little too late.

Both his political opponents and allies questioned the move by the DOJ this week and, in some cases, used the opportunity to again call on the mayor to resign.

"The mayor is simply lying to New Yorkers – the good news is, he’s never given them a reason to believe him before, so I hope they don’t start now,” said Public Advocate Jumaane Williams. “Dropping this case is purely a political favor to a man who can now be leveraged and threatened, a practice that should concern all Americans.”

“We don’t have a mayor who cares enough to be honest about his case or his inability to lead – the truth is, we barely have a mayor at all,” Williams added.

Several of Adams' primary opponents doubled down on their criticism of Adams, questioning if the mayor is beholden to the president, and will no longer act in New Yorker’s best interest.

“He did sell out New Yorkers for his own freedom,” Queens State Senator and mayoral candidate Jessica Ramos said on X. “For months, we watched Mayor Adams suck up to President Trump, and last night he finally got the reward he was looking for.”

Ramos suggested New York Attorney General Letitia James investigate any potential agreement between Adams and Trump regarding the charges.

Even some of the mayor’s supporters criticized the dismissal on Tuesday.

“It certainly sounds like President Trump is holding the mayor hostage,” Rev. Al Sharpton said in a statement.

Mayor Eric Adams claimed the corruption and bribery charges brought against him have been dismissed for good, however, they could be refiled after the November election. File photo via Mayoral Photography Unit

Even without the case hanging over his head, the investigation into Adams and the allegations of corruption have diminished his public image.

In addition, separate investigations into Adams’ allies and members of his inner circle have also plagued the public’s confidence in the mayor, and his ability to govern a city of 8 million people.

But the mayor had at least one ally on Tuesday – Governor Kathy Hochul, who said she would not consider removing the mayor from office, despite possessing the power to do so.

“That does not feel like something that's very democratic,” she said. “That's why I'm not going to go there.”

In September, when the charges first came down against Adams, Hochul pushed Adams to clean house in City Hall and work towards regaining the confidence of New Yorkers.

After appearing to approve of the moves he made within his administration, Hochul said Tuesday that she plans to “continue working with him to make sure we focus on our mutual priorities.”

She added later that she just wants to “have a partner who has the same priorities I do, and that is focused on the people of the city.”

When asked if she feared the dismissal would force Adams to comply with whatever directives he is or isn’t given by Trump, Hochul said that she believed “that the mayor is going to put the interest of New York City first,” adding that she was going to “continue monitoring the situation.”

“It is my hope that after this issue, that there's more attention now back on the minutia of running the city, and that's important to me,” the governor added.