New York City Comptroller Brad Lander (D) on Monday called on Mayor Eric Adams to prove he can continue to govern amid calls for his resignation after the Trump Justice Department (DOJ) dropped charges against the mayor in what prosecutors alleged was a quid pro quo deal.
“Given the gravity of this situation and the chaos it has unleashed among New Yorkers, I formally request that your office promptly develop and present a detailed contingency plan outlining how you intend to manage the City of New York during this period of leadership transition,” Lander wrote in a letter to Adams on Monday.
“Specifically, please provide immediate confirmation of your plan for appointing interim Deputy Mayors and key managerial staff, along with an anticipated timeline for stabilizing the administration, no later than Friday February 21, 2025,” he continued.
Four deputy mayors on Monday said they planned to resign from Adams’ administration over his cooperation with President Trump on immigration, which prosecutors on his bribery case alleged was part of a deal in which Washington and DOJ ordered them to drop charges against Adams.
Lander said that if Adams was unable to provide a plan, he would seek to convene a meeting of the Inability Committee.
Last week, in a letter obtained by the Hill, the former U.S. attorney overseeing the case into Adams accused the mayor’s office of taking part in a “quid pro quo” ahead of the DOJ ordering the case against Adams to be dropped.
The U.S. attorney, Danielle Sassoon, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi that a memo drafted by Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directing the case to be dropped made it clear that Adams was being granted leniency in exchange for assisting the federal government with its immigration priorities, citing a meeting Jan. 31 that she, Bove, Adams’s attorney and members of her office attended.
Adams faces charges of conspiracy, wire fraud and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, among other counts, and prosecutors alleged that he “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him.”
The judge in the case has not yet weighed in on the Justice Department’s request to dismiss the charges.
Adams has denied any wrongdoing.
“I’m the second Black mayor in the history of the city. But God has fortified me. And no matter what you read, no matter what you hear, they want to fight me,” Adams said. “I’m going to fight for you.”
Adams is also up for reelection this year, with the Democratic primary slated for June and the general election in November.
