New York City Mayor Eric Adams may now be embroiled in more legal ordeals than any New Yorker not named Donald Trump.
Adams, once a close ally of Joe Biden, now finds his relationship with the White House strained due to two factors — the mayor’s hard-line rhetoric on migration in the wake of the Biden-precipitated migrant crisis, and a slew of scandals that have landed on his lap.
But given the timing of the legal troubles, is it possible these woes for Adams and his team are the result of back-door maneuvering by Biden-friendly operatives seeking payback on the administration’s behalf for Adams’ decision to bite the hand that once fed him?
For the last several months, Adams had been dealing with a quagmire of legal woes related to allegations of financial wrongdoing by his team. While the mayor himself has not been charged with anything, the FBI has searched his electronic devices, and at least one individual with long-standing ties to Adams is accused of being involved in a straw-man donor scheme.
One aspect the feds are looking at is whether the Adams campaign colluded with the Turkish government to get Turkish money in its campaign coffers in exchange for making the moves necessary to fast-track the opening of a high-rise consulate in time for President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to cut the ribbon on the facility.
Even as that case remains open, Adams was slapped on Wednesday with a civil summons alleging that he sexual assaulted a coworker 30 years ago while he was in the New York City Police Department.
The news of the sexual assault allegation, broken by The Messenger, was met by the mayor and his office with a complete denial, with Adams claiming he never even met the plaintiff.
“It absolutely did not happen. I don’t recall ever meeting this person. And I would never harm anyone in that magnitude. It did not happen,” Adams said while speaking to reporters. “It’s going to go its course; it’s going take its process. But it did not happen. And that is not who I am, and that’s who I have never been in my professional life.”
According to the summons, the plaintiff is seeking $5 million in damages. “The claims brought here allege intentional and negligent acts and omissions for physical, psychological, and other injuries suffered as a result of conduct that would constitute sexual offenses,” reads the document.
The sexual assault claim against Adams was filed under New York State’s Adult Survivors Act, which was enacted in May 2022 and expired on Thursday, meaning the Adams claim came in right under the deadline. The Adult Survivors Act allowed alleged victims of sexual offenses for which the statute of limitations has lapsed to file civil suits for a one-year period. Donald Trump, Bill Cosby, and Harvey Weinstein are among those who have been sued under the legislation.
The news of the allegations are sure to worsen the relationship between Adams and Biden, which reportedly had already been strained prior to the scandals due to the tension between the White House and the mayor’s office with regard to the migrant crisis. According to Politico:
Joe Biden and Eric Adams, once a perfect political match, haven’t spoken in nearly a year — and nobody expects that to change anytime soon.
… The silence between Biden and Adams has left the two top Democrats increasingly reliant on intermediaries to discuss federal funding to support the surge of migrants overwhelming big cities.
… The president and mayor last spoke — doing so only briefly — in January at an event in New York City. Adams was dropped in May from the president’s National Advisory Board. And the two didn’t meet when Biden was in town in September for the United Nations General Assembly.
It’s a long fall from February 2022, when Biden visited New York City and commended Adams at an event on gun violence strategies.
Biden and Adams were once very close, with Biden more than happy to have the support of a rising black politician, especially one who was elected on the reputation of being a moderate, in line with Biden’s own desire to play the role of a centrist.
But Adams has blamed the Biden administration for the crisis that has seen the illegal migrant population swell by more than 100,000 since the spring, exhausting New York City’s capacity to house all the arrivals and driving Adams to measures made popular by Republican leaders, such as transporting migrants to other cities, states, and even countries.
Adams has openly stated that border security should be part of the solution, saying, “Any plan that does not include stopping the flow at the border, that’s a failed plan.”
Is it a coincidence that Adams is beset on all sides by legal problems at this moment? Or is it a well-timed retribution against the mayor for daring to speak out against the Democratic Party’s ostensible leader?
