New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared Tuesday that he is “no longer facing legal questions” after the Justice Department moved to shield him from the bribery charges that have been hanging over his reelection campaign.
But now, with the Democratic primary just four months away, he faces a seemingly impossible political balancing act.
The Democrat may have to continue pleasing Republican President Donald Trump with his policies and public statements to keep the charges from being revived — while simultaneously convincing voters in a deep-blue city that he’s still his own man.
Adams’ fraught position is owed to a section of the extraordinary Justice Department memo that ordered prosecutors to drop the case but left open the possibility that the charges could be brought back.
In the memo, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told prosecutors in New York not to take “additional investigative steps” against the mayor until after the November election — when the new top prosecutor in the district will review the case and could potentially reinstate charges.
The decision was not based on the facts of the case, Bove wrote, but came instead because the prosecution was distracting Adams from campaigning and helping Trump carry out his hard-line immigration agenda in New York.
The Rev. Al Sharpton, a close ally of Adams’ who holds sway among perhaps the mayor’s most crucial voting bloc, said in a pointed statement Tuesday that the arrangement amounts to “essentially political blackmail.”
“So if the Mayor were to disagree with the president, does that mean they have the right to call a trial on him at any time?” Sharpton asked. “It certainly sounds like President Trump is holding the mayor hostage.”
Adams was already fending off accusations that he had become beholden to the president in order to secure leniency in his criminal case.
Now his primary challengers have a fresh angle of attack, arguing that everything the mayor does moving forward can be interpreted as an attempt to please a president who has unprecedented sway over a prominent Democrat who could have been a high-profile rival.
“Eric Adams no longer works for New Yorkers. He works for Donald Trump. Period,” state Sen. Zellnor Myrie, a mayoral candidate, said at a news conference. “Mayor Eric Adams will be under the thumb and control under Donald Trump until November.”
Adams, a former police officer, was indicted in September on federal conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges, with prosecutors alleging Adams allowed Turkish officials and businesspeople to buy his influence with illegal campaign contributions and lavish overseas trips in exchange for political favors.
Before the charges, Adams ran for office and governed as a centrist, often warring with New York City liberals that he castigates as unrealistic. He was a registered Republican for a period of time earlier in his political career.
Still, it is undeniable that Adams has significantly warmed to Trump since the case emerged and has built a relationship with the new administration, meeting with the Republican’s so-called border czar on immigration enforcement and attending Trump’s inauguration.
Adams late last year also suggested that he was open to changing political parties to become a Republican but walked the idea back after criticism that he was openly courting Trump.
On Monday, hours before the memo became public, Adams convened his top deputies to discuss the city’s response to Trump’s policies, including a recent directive that appeared to open the door to further cooperation with Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
During the meeting, Adams instructed his deputies not to publicly spar with Trump, warning it could put federal grants at risk, according to an official who attended the meeting. The person requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter.
Among Adams’s other declared primary challengers are city Comptroller Brad Lander, former comptroller Scott Stringer, state Sen. Jessica Ramos and state Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.
Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo has also been eyeing an entry into the race and could be a formidable candidate, despite having resigned from office following multiple sexual harassment allegations.
George Arzt, a veteran New York Democratic political operative, said Adams will have to proceed carefully.
“I think he’ll know what to do with Trump. The problem is that he can be handcuffed to Trump in an election year, and he’s got to be very, very careful,” Arzt said. “Yes, he wants the charges dropped officially, but no, he doesn’t want to be linked closely to Trump, even though he is already.”
In his first public statement since the Justice Department memo became public, Adams maintained that he is innocent of the charges, saying: “I would never put any personal benefit above my solemn responsibility as your mayor.”
“Despite the fact that I am no longer facing legal questions, I also understand that many New Yorkers will still question my character,” Adams said in a speech. “And I know that I must continue to regain your trust.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has the power to remove Adams from office but has repeatedly said she would not do so, told reporters Tuesday that everything Adams does will now be ”under a spotlight.”
“I don’t know whether anyone is compromised in that situation. I truly do not know,” she said. “I have to believe that the mayor is going to put the interests of New York City first.”
“I just want to have a partner who has the same priorities that I do and that is focused on the people of this city and nothing else,” she said.
___Associated Press Writer Jake Offenhartz contributed to this report.