Mayor Eric Adams declined to say Tuesday if he’s seeking a pardon from Donald Trump, should he be re-elected president, moments after city Comptroller Brad Lander publicly accused Hizzoner of doing just that.
During an unrelated Oct. 29 press conference, Lander — who is running against Adams in next year’s Democratic mayoral primary — says he believes Adams has been avoiding direct criticism Trump, unlike most other prominent Democrats, because he may be angling for a presidential pardon in the wake of his federal corruption indictment last month.
“It sure [looks] to me like the mayor was thinking, ‘How do I get a pardon from this guy?'” Lander said. “And that terrifies me, and I think that should enrage New Yorkers.”
Lander also blasted Adams for saying over the weekend that he does not believe Trump is a fascist. Furthermore, the city’s chief bean counter said the mayor should have strongly rebuked Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally on Sunday, in which a litany of speakers spewed hateful comments, instead of issuing a statement asking every to take down the temperature politically.
“I thought the mayor’s comments in advance of the rally were atrocious,” Lander said. “The mayor should have said in advance, ‘We’re gonna keep people safe at this rally because that’s our obligation, but we don’t want a fascist president, and we don’t want a president who violates the basic ideas, the values of what New York City stands for.'”
Following the Sunday rally, the mayor’s official X account posted a statement calling out the “hateful words that were used by some at today’s rally,” but that notably did not name Trump or any other speaker at the event.
On Tuesday, Adams was asked if he was seeking a pardon from Trump, following Lander’s comments. He dodged the question and instead insulted the comptroller, one of his frequent political foes.
“Lander, oooh, he’s the moral authority of life,” Adams said sarcastically before abruptly moving on to another reporter’s question.
The mayor was indicted by the Manhattan US Attorney’s office on Sept. 26. Federal prosecutors hit him with five criminal counts including bribery, soliciting foreign campaign donations and wire fraud.
Adams is accused of running a decade-long scheme in which he accepted luxury travel benefits and illegal foreign campaign donations in exchange for doing political favors for the Turkish government. He pleaded not guilty, and his attorney, Alex Spiro, has sought to dismiss the bribery charge against him.
At another point during the news conference, Adams denied reporting by the New York Post that his legal team is hoping for a Trump victory over Vice President Kamala Harris — the Democratic nominee — on Nov. 5 because they believe the former president could move to pardon him. Those hopes likely rest on the idea that Trump would replace the US Attorney who charged Adams, Damian Williams, and his record during his first term of pardoning political allies convicted of federal crimes.
“There’s no one from my legal team who’s doing any form of angling,” Adams said. “That is not our position; we think the facts are going to speak for themselves.”
But when pressed on who he would vote for, Adams did not directly answer the question.
Instead, he referred to the candidate he endorsed—Harris—without saying her name or making it clear that he would be voting for her specifically. He initially hesitated in endorsing Harris when President Biden stepped down from the Democratic presidential ticket in July but quickly came around after facing pressure from party leaders.
“I made it clear on who I endorsed for president, and I’m not going to do an annual endorsement refresher,” Adams said. “I have made it clear, and if anything changes, I will tell you. Nothing has changed for that.”
