New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been battling federal corruption charges, but President-elect Donald Trump’s victory Tuesday could be good news for him.
Trump has compared Adams’s case with his own federal criminal charges, calling the Justice Department “dirty players” for charging Adams with bribery and fraud.
“I just want to be nice because I know what it’s like to be persecuted by the DOJ for speaking out against open borders,” Trump said at an annual political dinner Adams was at in October. “We were persecuted, Eric. I was persecuted, and so were you.”
It’s anticipated that Trump will replace the person prosecuting Adams after he is inaugurated in January, a switch that would drastically improve the Democratic mayor’s situation. However, Adams plans to run for reelection next year, so cozying up with Trump might prove counterproductive in a New York City Democratic primary. Any assistance from the Trump administration will likely make Adams’s campaign turbulent.
Adams was also reluctant to side with Vice President Kamala Harris during her presidential campaign, though, leaving an open path for Trump to align with Adams and intervene in his case.
Adams’s trial will begin in April, just two months before the Democratic primary in June and three months after Trump returns to the White House.
Adams was first indicted on five counts in September, including accepting bribes connected to the Turkish government. If he were to be found guilty on all counts, a conviction could result in up to 45 years in prison.
Besides removing the federal prosecutors going after Adams, Trump could let the trial play out and simply pardon the mayor if he’s found guilty.
It wouldn’t be the first time Trump pardoned a politician. During his former presidency, Trump commuted public corruption charges from former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich and former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick.
Adams spoke with Trump this week but said in an interview Thursday that they did not discuss his criminal case. He also didn’t answer a question pertaining to a Trump intervention.
“I’ve been extremely clear that I’ve done nothing wrong, and I have competent attorneys that are going to handle that case,” the mayor said.
Adams’s best scenario for the case is having the charges tossed entirely. However, moving to dismiss a case postindictment is never done unless evidence or case law has changed, Paul Tuchmann, former assistant U.S. attorney at the Eastern District, told Politico.
“You want people to plead guilty. Otherwise, you shouldn’t have indicted them in the first place,” he said. “If you dismiss indictments on your own, you are effectively discouraging future guilty pleas because defendants will think if they wait long enough, they’ll have their case dismissed, too.”
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Adams’s legal predicament started more than a year ago after federal agents raided the homes of his campaign and administration officials, seizing the mayor’s phone. He was later indicted in September 2024 for allegedly accepting Turkish donations and gifts from people aligned with the Turkish government. In exchange for the gifts, Adams allegedly forced the fire department to move forward without a proper safety inspection at the Turkish Embassy in Manhattan.
All eyes will be on Trump to see if he makes moves toward Adams’s case as he returns to the White House for his second presidential term.
