Politics

Eric Adams’ troubles pile up, just as he seems to get his post-indictment footing

Published

1 year ago

December 17, 2024

NEW YORK — New York City’s defiant Democratic mayor ran into one hurdle after another Monday — facing mounting fallout from the investigations into him and his inner circle just as he tries to improve his precarious political standing.

The city’s Campaign Finance Board voted Monday morning to deny Mayor Eric Adams $4.5 million in public funds for his re-election. Ninety minutes later, his longest-serving, closest aide — Ingrid Lewis-Martin — and her lawyer announced the Manhattan district attorney will soon indict her on alleged corruption charges. More than 1,200 miles away, President-elect Donald Trump said he would consider pardoning the mayor in his federal bribery case — a legal lifeline that carries great political risk in a New York City Democratic primary.

The cascade of bad news comes as Adams faces attacks from a bevy of lesser-known Democrats running to unseat him next year, as well as the prospect of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo jumping into the primary. The mayor has been aggressively trying to change his circumstances lately — alleging he was targeted for his criticisms of outgoing President Joe Biden, lambasting local reporters for their negative coverage and pushing out a string of positive announcements about public safety, tax relief and affordable housing.

None of that was enough to help him navigate the bad news Monday, which culminated in a combative news conference in which his staff tried to cut off reporters as they asked questions about the pressing stories.

In denying Adams matching funds, the local board condemned him to another six months of fundraising ahead of next June’s Democratic primary, a significant setback for any incumbent — though it is one he can appeal.

The board partially based its decision on a five-count federal indictment alleging Adams participated in a bribery scheme involving the Turkish government. The mayor has pleaded not guilty and will face trial in April.

On top of that, with its decision Monday, the board hand-delivered a line of attack that’s sure to dog the mayor throughout his campaign.

“There is now even less of a shot of Mayor Adams winning reelection,” said Democratic strategist Trip Yang, an adviser to Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, a potential Adams challenger. “He could raise more contributions, but it will require a lot of effort and time. And this adds to the litany of credibility arguments that could be used against him for the Trump-averse Democratic primary electorate.”

Adams noted at his press conference that while several of his potential competitors did not qualify for matching funds, the board could change its mind going forward. He did not, however, mention that his rivals were denied for different reasons.

“We’re going to continue to work with CFB to answer any questions that they have so we can continue to get the funding,” Adams said. “Even without the funding, we have out-raised substantially everyone else that’s in the race.”

He also had to contend with pending troubles for Lewis-Martin, who abruptly resigned Sunday ahead of expected criminal charges this week. She has been Adams’ closest and most loyal adviser for decades — and is departing his ranks during one of the most tenuous chapters in his political career.

The mayor addressed the loss — which came as the two have been reportedly feuding — in deeply personal terms Monday.

“Whenever I walked on stage to do a State of the City, or go to a debate, no matter what I did, she would walk in the room, ask everyone to leave, and she would grab my hands and she would pray for me,” Adams said. “This morning I did it for her — I lifted her up in prayer.”

The mayor said she is “not only a friend but she’s my sister, and I love her so much, and I just really ask God to give her strength in the days to come.”

Lewis-Martin’s press conference at the office of her attorney, Arthur Aidala, was a reminder that investigations into Adams and his inner circle are still piling up. Aidala, a friend and donor to Adams, answered in the affirmative when asked if he believed that Manhattan prosecutors were trying to get his client to cooperate in a case against the mayor.

For Adams, those legal troubles may be alleviated by the incoming president.

The Republican has shown sympathy toward the Democratic mayor, and each insists Biden’s Department of Justice is targeting them to seek political retribution.

In Adams’ case, he publicly criticized Biden’s handling of the migrant crisis. And both Adams and Trump say that act spurred the DOJ to action.

“I said he’s going to be indicted,” Trump said Monday during a press briefing at Mar-a-Lago. “And a few months later he got indicted. So, I would certainly look into [a pardon].”

Adams referred questions about Trump’s remarks to his attorney and said he hopes the president elect will make the DOJ less politicized.

“I think that what President-elect Trump has gone through is allowing him to see that if the Justice Department is doing what President Biden stated, such as being politicized, I believe he owes it to Americans to make sure that’s not the case,” Adams said.

A pardon from Trump would almost certainly be a political liability for Adams in a Democratic primary, in which left-of-center voters typically flock to the polls. In the last general election, Trump lost the city 68-30 — proving it remains an anti-Trump Democratic stronghold, even as he made significant gains statewide.

A pardon from Donald Trump would almost certainly be a political liability for Adams in a Democratic primary, in which left-of-center voters typically flock to the polls.

Whether any of Adams’ lesser-known opponents can effectively wield that against him remains to be seen, but early signs show most of them are trying that line of attack — presuming voters will be turned off by any whiff of MAGA affiliation.

Adams had steered clear of criticizing Trump — or stumping for Kamala Harris — during the campaign. Since Election Day, he hosted the incoming border czar at his official residence of Gracie Mansion to discuss immigration policy, and has spoken enthusiastically about Elon Musk’s high-level role in the incoming White House.

“I should not have been charged,” Adams said at Monday’s press briefing. “God has a way of showing the irony of life: I’m just saying the same thing that President Biden said. President Biden stated his Justice Department has been politicized. President Trump stated that. I stated that.”

He was referring to Biden’s pardon of his son, Hunter Biden, and the president’s subsequent statement alleging his own DOJ was engaging in politically motivated selective prosecution.

Adams’ no-good Monday came as things were starting to look up for the mayor.

Earlier this month, City Council members approvedAdams’ signature housing plan. He joined a politically influential union to announce a populist state measure to provide tax relief to low-wage workers. And the NYPD helped catch the 26-year-old suspect in the murder of the UnitedHealthcare CEO — with a hefty assist from a fast food worker in Pennsylvania.

Back in City Hall, Adams pushed out top advisers who were ensnared in local and federal probes at the behest of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove him from office. That group of embattled aides — including the former police commissioner, schools chancellor and two deputy mayors — has been replaced by government veterans whom insiders generally regard as serious and competent.

Political and government insiders particularly lauded his appointmentof Maria Torres-Springer as first deputy mayor in October as a sign the administration would begin to focus on governing amid the probes and charges.

City Hall spokesperson Kayla Mamelak Altus said overall crime numbers have come down since Adams took office, while job numbers have increased.

“As Mayor Adams says all the time: ‘Stay focused, no distractions, and grind,’” she said in a statement. “The best way to serve New Yorkers is to continue keeping our eyes on the goal of improving this city and let the results speak for themselves.”

Politics

DC is about to pick new leaders. Trump is watching.

Published

6 hours ago

June 16, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Washington will soon enter a new chapter after voters pick the capital’s first new mayor in a dozen years and its first new Congressional delegate since 1991. And no matter who wins Tuesday’s primaries, they’ll be on a collision course with President Donald Trump.

The frontrunners in both races have hinged their campaigns on opposition to Trump, who since returning to office has chipped away at Washington’s autonomy and sought to remake parts of the city in his image. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has led the city since taking office in 2015, has taken a pragmatic approach to working with the president in an apparent effort to avoid further furor. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton has represented the District since 1991 and condemned Trump’s actions in strongly worded statements, but the 89-year-old has dodged the spotlight amid questions about her acuity and ability to serve.

The candidates running to replace them say that’s far from enough.

In interviews with Blue Light News, those leading candidates emphasized that they hoped to find common ground with the Trump administration and coordinate where possible, especially on projects that could jumpstart Washington’s sluggish economy. But they all drew a red line at Trump’s extraordinary law enforcement actions, including sending in the National Guard indefinitely and surging federal immigration agents in coordination with local police.

“Washington, D.C., residents want and deserve a mayor who’s going to stand up and fight back, and that’s what I’m bringing,” said Kenyan McDuffie, a relatively moderate, pro-business former D.C. Council member who is polling second in the mayor’s race. He has pledged to end coordination between the Metropolitan Police Department and ICE on his first day in office.

Janeese Lewis George, a D.C. council member who is polling more than 10 points ahead of McDuffie, has taken an even more adversarial posture against the president. She told Blue Light News she would “actively tell our employees to resist” if Trump again federalized the MPD, adding that she would work with D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb “to defend D.C.”

Trump is already making known his displeasure — particularly with Lewis George, a democratic socialist whose platform and campaign are reminiscent of those of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Asked last week about the possibility of Lewis George winning the primary, Trump told reporters in the Oval Office: “I wouldn’t like it.”

“Maybe we’ll take back Washington, run it on a federal basis,” he continued. “We won’t put up with it. We’re not gonna lose our businesses.”

Lewis George’s campaign almost immediately cut Trump’s comments into an ad. “Look, we’re not going to get ICE off our streets by fearing this president,” she said in response. “We’re not going to protect our rights, or Home Rule, by complying in advance. Threatening Home Rule because you don’t like how residents are voting is an attack on democracy itself. The people of D.C. elect their mayor, and they want someone who’s gonna stand up to Donald Trump.”

There’s a similar sentiment among the leading delegate candidates.

Robert White, a city council member and one of two frontrunners in the delegate race, described Trump’s surge of federal agents and National Guard troops to the city as “lawlessness” and “the opposite of public safety.” He said he would seek to build a coalition in Congress to “push back in every way.”

Brooke Pinto, a fellow council member and the other delegate frontrunner who has centered public safety in her campaign, said the administration’s use of National Guard troops and ICE agents have not helped the city. “While I am very committed to advancing public safety in the District of Columbia, what we’re seeing from the Trump administration undermines those efforts,” she said.

That type of messaging is politically savvy in a city with an electorate that heavily supported Kamala Harris in 2024 and whose lives have been directly impacted by the president’s grip over Washington — from the troop surge to his sweeping cuts to government programs and razing of the federal workforce, which have severely contracted the District’s economy. That’s not to mention his efforts to splash his name and face across federal buildings, and mounting moves to beautify portions of the city and stand up ambitious architectural projects.

“When politicians try to interfere with our local public safety, when they are sweeping up unhoused residents, cutting jobs, when they are pushing policies that negatively affect our local economy and driving up overall costs of everything from gas to housing, I’m going to fight back,” McDuffie said.

But it sets the candidates — whoever wins — in explicit opposition to Trump, who has consistently sought to bring his enemies to heel whenever he gets the chance. The president has several levers at his disposal if he chooses to retaliate against Washington, from another federal law enforcement surge to using his influence over Congress to weaken D.C. Home Rule. The city also depends on the federal government for high-profile projects that would improve public spaces and bring jobs to the District, including upgrades to Union Station and the redevelopment of the RFK Stadium campus.

Asked how the White House is preparing for a potentially more adversarial mayor and delegate, a spokesperson referred Blue Light News back to Trump’s Oval Office comments.

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