Adams grilled by Dems, mostly ignored by Republicans at sanctuary city hearing

New York City Mayor Eric Adams was pressured by congressional Democrats over his alleged quid pro quo with the Trump administration while being mostly defended by Republican members. AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.

By Ryan Schwach

Congressional Democrats blasted Mayor Eric Adams over allegations that he agreed to help the Trump administration with its deportation efforts in New York City in exchange for the dismissal of the corruption charges federal authorities brought against him last year during an oversight hearing Wednesday.

And while Adams faced blistering questions from members of his own party, he faced little questioning – and in some cases, outright support – from the GOP members of the committee, who instead grilled the mayors of other sanctuary cities also testifying on Wednesday.

Testifying before the House Oversight Committee about New York City’s sanctuary city status alongside the Democratic mayors of Denver, Chicago and Boston, Adams faced few questions about his own immigration policies or those of New York City. Congressional Republicans consistently took the other Democratic mayors to task on their city’s sanctuary city status and policies, but chiefly left Adams, who has been more willing to work with federal immigration officials, out of the fray.

But Adams still faced scrutiny from members of his own party, who questioned him over the alleged quid pro quo he entered into with Trump’s Department of Justice in an effort to shake the criminal case that still hangs over his head.

Even with the GOP support, Adams appeared to soften his criticism of his own city’s sanctuary laws, which he has bashed for the past several years.

During his opening remarks, Adams appeared supportive of sanctuary city laws but also said he would cooperate with federal officials to go after “violent gangs and those who harm residents of our city.”

“A sanctuary city classification does not mean our city will ever be a safe haven for violent criminals,” Adams said. “It also does not give New York City the authority to violate federal immigration laws. To the contrary, New York City will always comply with city, state and federal laws, as it does now, law abiding immigrants in New York have an important role – immigrants, including those who are undocumented.”

Adams has publicly agreed to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal government on immigration enforcement, and has been criticized at home for those stances. On Wednesday, he took a more even-handed approach.

“I must create an atmosphere that allows every law-abiding resident, documented or not, to access vital services without fear of being turned over to federal authorities,” Adams said. “I cannot have a city where parents are afraid to send their children to school.”

In response to a question about if he would advocate to end sanctuary city laws, Adams was the only mayor who said he had issues with the ordinance.

“I have made it clear on a portion of the sanctuary city policies that I believe we need to be altered,” he said.

However, his statements on Wednesday did not stop congressional Democrats from New York and beyond to criticize Adams.

“President Trump's Department of Justice has tried to force the conditional dismissal of very serious charges against one of our witnesses here today in exchange for that witness's total and complete submission to the radical immigration agenda being propounded by the administration,” said Committee Ranking Member Gereld Connolly from Virginia, referring to Adams.

“The DOJ has done so over the objections of a Republican acting U.S. attorney who President Trump appointed rather than enabling a flagrant, corrupted quid pro quo,” Connolly added.

Adams received similar scrutiny from several others, including California Democrat Robert Garcia, who said Adams was “selling New Yorkers out,” Congressmember Rashida Tlaib from Michigan, Congressmember Suhas Subramanyam from Virginia among several others.

“I think there's a pretty clear timeline here that indicates that a case is being dropped in the name of trying to appease the president, who seems to be okay with what's going on,” said Subramanyam. “We can talk about the policy, but I think there's a bigger problem here of public extortion and almost an endorsement of this extortion, and it's becoming the norm for this administration.”

Congressmember Dave Min from California specifically asked Adams why he hasn’t resigned yet, and if he would.

Adams also got hit hard by Queens Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a consistent critic of the mayor. AOC used her time to litigate Adams’ alleged quid pro quo with the Trump Administration.

She asked about a Jan. 31 meeting between Adams’ counsel and federal prosecutors regarding his bribery case, where his lawyer Alex Spiro allegedly attempted to make a deal with prosecutors.

“In this meeting, did anyone representing you, including perhaps Mr. Spiro, agree or allude to any arrangement with the Trump administration that would involve changing city policy, change to reconsideration of the charges brought against you?” Ocasio-Cortez asked.

Adams declined to answer the questions about the Jan. 31 meeting – which was cited by Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon when she resigned – leading Ocasio-Cortez to ask if the mayor intended on pleading the 5th Amendment rather and directly answer her questions.

“I'm answering your questions,” Adams responded. “What you're doing…you are asking me about communications between my attorney and I…We are in a country of law in order.”

Throughout the hearing, Adams repeatedly denied having entered a deal with the Trump administration.

“There's no deal, no quid pro quo,” he said. “I did nothing wrong.”

At the same time, Adams seemingly got a free pass from Republicans, who on at least two occasions praised him for his cooperation with Trump and his Border Czar Tom Homan.

Queens Congressmember Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez asked Mayor Eric Adams about his counsel’s meetings where quid pro quo was allegedly made regarding his federal prosecution. AP Photo/Rod Lamkey Jr.

“[Adams] has agreed to cooperate with federal officials to uphold the laws of the United States,” said South Carolina’s William Timmons.

Timmons also pointed out that Adams criticized President Joe Biden’s immigration policies and that he was “under investigation shortly thereafter,” echoing Adams and Trump who have both claimed, without evidence, that the mayor’s prosecution was politically motivated.

While not to the same degree, Adams was pressured alongside his fellow mayors by Republicans who argued sanctuary cities are a violation of federal law, and that cities like New York harbor criminals.

All four mayors including Adams denied those assertions.

“I'm not going to violate federal law, so I don't have to worry about that,” Adams said.

At several points, Republican members incorrectly associated crime with the migrants, both legal and illegal.

David Bier, an immigration researcher who also testified at the hearing, defended sanctuary city laws and cited data that says migrants are 36 percent less likely to commit and be convicted of murder than a natural born U.S. citizen.

“Indiscriminate mass deportation agenda is a far greater threat to public safety than any city policy,” Bier said. “A mountain of empirical research shows that reasonable restrictions on ICE cooperation do not increase crime rates and that immigrants lower crime rates. Immigrants, including illegal immigrants, commit crimes serious enough for them to be incarcerated at half the rate of U.S. citizens.”

Bier, in response to a question from Connolly, echoed sentiments from the ranking member that crime data related to any group could be cherry picked to associate any group with high crime rates.

“You could look at people with driver's licenses and say, ‘Man, they're committing a lot of crime. We should stop issuing driver's licenses,’” Bier said.