New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Thursday night didn’t rule out removing Mayor Eric Adams from office after allegations emerged that the feds would drop their criminal case against Hizzoner in exchange for his help with President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
Hochul, the only official in the state who has the power to boot Adams from his position, revealed on MSNBC that she’s consulting with officials about the mayor’s future.
The governor told host Rachel Maddow that she read a letter penned by now-former acting Manhattan US Attorney Danielle Sassoon that claimed Adams’ legal team offered a “quid pro quo” in hopes of seeing his federal charges get dismissed.
“The allegations are extremely concerning and serious, but I cannot as the governor of this state have a knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction like a lot of other people are saying right now,” Hochul said.
“I have to do what’s smart, what’s right and I’m consulting with other leaders in government at this time.”
“This just happened,” she added. “I need some time to process this and figure out the right approach.”
Hochul’s comments come on the heels of her second-in-command, Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, calling on Adams to resign, accusing the Big Apple leader of being in Trump’s pocket.
“New York City deserves a Mayor accountable to the people, not beholden to the President,” Delgado said in a terse statement on social media. “Mayor Adams should step down.”
A City Hall spokesperson brushed aside Hochul and Delgado’s comments and insisted Adams isn’t going anywhere.
“Mayor Adams has been clear over and over again, he’s not stepping down, he’s stepping up,” the spokesperson said Thursday night.
But Hochul’s office made clear Delgado doesn’t speak for the governor in a stinging rebuke.
“Gov. Hochul is carefully reviewing these allegations,” a spokesperson told The Post.
“Lieutenant Governor Delgado does not now and has not ever spoken on behalf of this administration.”
Sassoon alleged in her resignation letter that Adams’ attorneys “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo,” at a Jan. 31 meeting in DC with the Trump Justice Department, indicating Adams would be willing to help immigration enforcement if the indictment is dismissed.
“It is a breathtaking and dangerous precedent to reward Adams’s opportunistic and shifting commitments on immigration and other policy matters with dismissal of a criminal indictment,” Sassoon wrote.
“Nor will a court likely find that such an improper exchange is consistent with the public interest.”
Adams’ defense lawyer Alex Spiro called Sassoon’s quid pro quo accusation a “total lie.”
“We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us,” he said.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who ordered Sassoon to file a motion to toss the case Monday, had denied in the memo from earlier this week there was a deal between Adams and Trump.
“(The) Government is not offering to exchange dismissal of a criminal case for Adams’s assistance on immigration enforcement,” it states.
Bove argued Thursday the charges against Adams were “politicized” and hurt his ability to govern the city. He accused Sassoon, a Republican, of being insubordinate.
Because of the pending prosecution against Adams, he can’t communicate “directly and candidly” with other city officials, as well as federal agencies tasked with handling national security threats and violent crime, Bove argued, accepting Sassoon’s resignation.
“This situation is unacceptable and directly endangers the lives of millions of New Yorkers,” Bove wrote.
Adams also announced Thursday he was looking into using an executive order to reopen a federal immigration office at Rikers Island that would mean the feds would work local authorities to target criminal migrants.
The development comes after Adams met with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan Thursday.
