Several candidates running to oust Mayor Eric Adams in this year’s Democratic primary argued that a federal judge’s decision to dismiss his corruption charges on Wednesday does not repair the incumbent’s damaged credibility or the appearance that he is beholden to President Trump.
City Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Adrienne Adams, who is not related to the mayor, said the decision by Federal District Court Judge Dale Ho “does not absolve” him of his actions.
“It also does not end the chaos and shame this has brought on our city with other ongoing criminal cases and investigations of the mayor’s office,” the speaker said in a statement, referring to the bevy of unrelated federal and state criminal probes into former Adams administration officials.
Ho ruled that Adams’ charges should be dropped “with prejudice” — meaning that Trump’s Justice Department cannot resurrect his case. Trump’s DOJ had pushed for dismissing the case “without prejudice,” which would have allowed it to bring the charges back at any time.
He said that was necessary to avoid the perception that the DOJ is using the threat of reintroducing the charges to compel Adams to do the Trump administration’s bidding.
“As Judge Ho stated in his ruling, ‘Everything here smacks of a bargain: Dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions,'” the speaker said. “Our city’s mayor should never be in the position of bargaining away New Yorkers and their rights.”
City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is also running to unseat Adams, commended Judge Ho for dismissing the case with, rather than without, prejudice.
“The ruling does not change the facts: Eric Adams works for Donald Trump, not New Yorkers,” Lander said in a statement.
A spokesperson for former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the front-runner in the race, did not respond to requests for comment on Ho’s ruling.
For his part, Mayor Adams has long maintained that there was no quid-pro-quo between his legal team and the Trump administration and that he only acts in the best interests of New Yorkers. During a Wednesday afternoon address following Ho’s decision, Adams insisted the case was “baseless” and that he is “solely beholden” to New Yorkers.
Another Adams challenger, Queens Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, echoed the speaker’s sentiment that Adams is still in Trump’s thrall even if he no longer has the charges hanging over his head.
‘Even the judge in the case agrees: this slimy deal reeks of a quid pro quo with the Trump administration,” Mamdani said in a statement.
“In exchange for his freedom, Adams has looked the other way while the federal government detains and disappears New Yorkers, steals money from our city, and wages war on working people. Adams should resign in disgrace,” he added, referring to the mayor declining to speak out against the Trump administration’s detention of immigrants without charges and move to claw back $80 million in migrant crisis aid from the city.
Adams’ administration did bring a lawsuit against the federal government to recoup the migrant funding.
The mayor also pledged to sign an executive order that would allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to operate on Rikers Island once again following the DOJ’s move to dismiss his case, though he has yet to issue the directive.
Although Adams is out of legal jeapordy, the damage his indictment did to his political care may be irreperable.
Since getting charged in September, Adams has faced widespread calls to resign, been abandoned by some of his closest political allies, and seen his job approval rating drop to historic lows. The case has also significantly hurt his re-election campaign, allowing Cuomo to hijack many of his political and financial supporters.
Yet Adams declared on Wednesday, “I’m running for re-election, and you know what? I’m going to win.”
