Eric Adams speaks out after DOJ moves to drop case against him
In his first appearance since the Justice Department moved to drop the case against him, New York City Mayor Eric Adams celebrated the end of what he called an "unnecessary ordeal."
"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," Adams said during a public address Tuesday. He did not take questions.
In a letter Monday night, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove instructed federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to drop the bribery case against Adams.
Adams pleaded not guilty to a five-count indictment that accused him of accepting years of luxury travel gifts in exchange for, among other things, persuading the fire department to approve the opening of the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan despite the lingering safety concerns of inspectors.
Addressing the public on Tuesday, Adams decried what he called "sensational and false claims" against him, despite the case's dismissal not involving any proclamation of his innocence.
The directive from Bove made no assessment on the strength of the evidence against Adams.
Rather, Bove's letter questioned the timing of when the charges were brought, suggesting the case was part of the Biden administration’s weaponization of the Justice Department.
Bove also said the case adversely affected Adams’ ability to help the Trump administration’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Federal prosecutors were instructed to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning it could come up again. However, Bove said nothing could happen until after this year’s mayoral election.
Addressing New Yorkers on Tuesday, Adams denied ever committing a crime and touted his record as mayor.
"I never asked anyone to break the law on my behalf or on behalf of my campaign -- never -- and I absolutely never traded my power as an elected official for any personal benefit," he said.
Adams thanked the Justice Department for its "honesty."
"Now we can put this cruel episode behind us and focus entirely on the future of our city," he said. "It's time to move forward."
Adams is the first New York City mayor to ever face criminal charges.
The dropping of the case comes after Adams has publicly cozied up to Trump, spending time with him at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort and attending his inauguration.
Trump recently made comments in support of Adams, and has suggested he would "take a look" at pardoning him.
"I think that he was treated pretty unfairly," Trump said regarding Adams during in a December press briefing.
New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams -- who, if Adams were to resign, would become acting mayor -- hit back against Adams' public address in a statement, saying he is "trying to sell misinformation to a city he’s already decided to sell out."
"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," Williams said.
Williams emphasized that the case being dropped in no way proves Adams' innocence, slamming the move as a "purely a political favor to a man who can now be leveraged and threatened."
"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 said. "I would call for the mayor to resign, but that would mean him putting the interests of the city first. At this point it is beyond clear that he can't or doesn't care enough to, and that should anger every New Yorker."
