WASHINGTON — Several congressional Democrats are decrying the Justice Department's move to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, warning it puts him at the behest of the Trump administration. The criticism follows resignations from multiple federal prosecutors last week who worked on the case.
In an interview with CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called the decision a “major assault on the justice system.”
“They have literally taken the mayor of New York City, who was facing and is facing serious charges of bribery, which were going to be expanded, and they have turned him into their own political pawn,” Klobuchar said. “And they have done this by trying to force career prosecutors in the Justice Department to drop the charges against him.”
The top Democrat in the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York, told ABC News in an interview Sunday that he is “very concerned” the Trump administration is seeking to use the move to control Adams, calling the situation “very disturbing.”
“Mayor Adams has a responsibility to convince the people of New York City that he will be able to continue to govern in a manner that puts their best interests first at all times and that he’s not simply taking orders from a Trump administration, a Trump Department of Justice or Trump officials who do not have the best interest of the city of New York at heart,” Jeffries said.
New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman, meanwhile, referred to the saga as “outright extortion” in an interview on MSNBC on Sunday while Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said the push was “saturated with corruption” in an appearance on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”
“This is an outrageous violation of the rules of prosecutors and an offense against due process and a very dangerous first move for the Department of Justice to be making under the Trump people," Raskin said.
He also claimed the Justice Department is moving to drop the charges in exchange for “certain kinds of political or policy accommodations” from Adams.
The Justice Department last week moved to officially drop charges against the New York City mayor relating to campaign finance violations, bribery and conspiracy. In a memo, the department’s second-in-command, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, argued Adams, who was critical of the Biden administration over immigration issues, was targeted for political reasons. Bove noted the mayor should stay in place to assist with President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration.
The move led to the resignation of a number of prosecutors involved, including the acting head of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York.
The Trump administration has pushed back on any notion that a quid pro quo occurred, including White House border czar Tom Homan, who called the idea that Adams made the decision to give U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement access to Rikers Island in exchange for the case against him being dropped “ridiculous” on CNN on Sunday.
“Me and Mayor Adams met a couple months ago — I think it was probably eight, nine weeks ago we met, and we had the same discussion,” Homan said. “And we talked about getting a presence in Rikers Island.
“We had that a couple months ago, long before this other discussion,” he added. “So I don't think it had anything to do with it.”
The latest pushback from Democrats over the weekend in the wake of last week’s developments builds on the early outcry already expressed from a few in the party.
New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, for instance, argued early last week in a post on X that residents of the city are “at risk” and said Adams “must be removed” if he doesn’t resign on his own.
“As long as Trump wields this leverage over Adams, the city is endangered," she said. "We cannot be governed under coercion."
Fellow New York Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres wrote in his own post on X early last week that Adams has been “compromised” and is “under the thumb of Donald Trump.”
“The City of New York has been all but reduced to a subsidiary of the Trump Administration,” he argued.
