Indicted: Eric Adams

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Sep 26, 2024 View in browser   By Emily Ngo, Nick Reisman and Jeff Coltin Presented by  With Timmy Facciola The indictment against Mayor Eric Adams is to be unsealed today. | Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office NEW YORK MINUTE: The charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams are expected to be made public today. POLITICO will keep you updated on the developments as they occur. ‘A TARGET’: Adams is making history in one of the worst ways possible, as the first sitting mayor of New York City to be indicted, POLITICO reports. His response late Wednesday was characteristically defiant. “I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target. And a target I became,” the Democrat said in a lengthy video to New Yorkers released by his attorney. “For months, leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty.” “Enough,” he added. “I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit.” The news that the city’s 110th mayor is key to the federal corruption case was simultaneously stunning and unsurprising. Multiple investigations have been unfolding around Adams, beginning last November when the FBI raided the homes of his aides and when the mayor himself had his devices seized. Still, more searches and subpoenas of Adams officials came this month, the feds’ reach stretching higher into his administration and ever closer to him. The swirling scandals whipped up a gale that forced out his police commissioner, his health commissioner and his schools chancellor. Adams’ indictment is expected to be unsealed today by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams. The New York Times broke the news. Immediately afterward, Adams was flooded with calls to resign. They came from the political adversaries challenging him for mayor: Scott Stringer, Brad Lander, Zohran Mamdani and Zellnor Myrie. (Jessica Ramos stopped short.) They came from the left-leaning Working Families Party, whose co-directors cited the city’s desperate need for “a leader we can trust” and noted that progressive Public Advocate Jumaane Williams is ready to become the interim mayor as the city charter mandates. And they also came from Adams’ political comfort zone, with City Council Member Bob Holden, a conservative Democrat, saying, “While he is presumed innocent until proven guilty, there is no way he can effectively lead with this cloud hanging over him.” Adams, a retired NYPD captain, has been insisting for months that he follows the law as a former law enforcement official. The mayor, only the second Black New Yorker in history to hold his post, also has made clear his belief that he is being targeted because of the color of his skin. He suggested that most recently on Wednesday when Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez demanded his ouster before news of the indictment broke. Adams huddled with his attorneys late Wednesday at Gracie Mansion. His former chief of staff Frank Carone was there, too. His advice to the mayor? “Stay strong, we’ll see the charges when they come.” — Emily Ngo, with Timmy Facciola IT’S THURSDAY. Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. A message from Alibaba: New York businesses like Adirondack Fragrance & Flavor Farm and Diane von Furstenberg are among thousands of American brands selling to over one billion consumers in China on Alibaba's online marketplace. They’re generating big sales and it’s having a positive impact on New York’s economy. In 2022, sales of U.S. products on Alibaba supported $1.5 billion in wages for New York workers and 18,400 local jobs. Explore Alibaba’s local impact.   WHERE’S KATHY? Spotlighting the CHIPS Workforce Training Pilot Program in Cicero. WHERE’S ERIC? ???? QUOTE OF THE DAY: “How we determined it was salt? … Yes, someone did taste it.” — MTA Bridges and Tunnels president Cathy Sheridan on learning that water leaking into the Queens-Midtown Tunnel this month was from the East River and not a burst main, Gothamist reports. ABOVE THE FOLD Rep. Anthony D'Esposito's Democratic rival, Laura Gillen, is launching a new ad targeting him. | Bonnie Cash/Getty Images ON OFFENSE IN NY-04: Democrat Laura Gillen is launching a new ad that attacks Rep. Anthony D’Esposito over alleged misconduct relating not to political patronage but his NYPD days, Playbook has learned. The TV spot debuting today seeks to portray D’Esposito’s whole career in civil service as ridden with unethical behavior, especially because it comes on the heels of the Times’ reporting that the vulnerable Republican had an affair and hired the woman, as well as his fiancée’s daughter. Gillen and D’Esposito are locked in one of the country’s most competitive House races, and the Long Island seat they’re battling over is home to many cops and their families. “Just the Facts” is Gillen’s first broadcast ad and her first attack ad of the cycle. It notes that New York City settled a lawsuit in which D’Esposito was accused of lying to a grand jury and prosecutor when he was in the NYPD, costing taxpayers $250,000, as detailed in the Daily News. It also features complaints filed against D’Esposito alleging he flashed his gun around, drove while intoxicated and failed to secure his service weapon. The first claim was determined to be partially substantiated, the second unsubstantiated and the third led D’Esposito to be found guilty. “The public needs to know about the shocking and serious allegations in official records that reflect Anthony D’Esposito’s pattern of corruption and poor judgment,” Gillen, the former Town of Hempstead supervisor, said in a statement. “He has violated the public trust, behaving irresponsibly and abusing his power.” D’Esposito spokesperson Matt Capp told Playbook, “While Laura Gillen shamelessly promotes unsubstantiated claims spread by progressive ‘defund the police’ advocates campaigning for her, the fact remains unchanged that Congressman D’Esposito served with distinction as a decorated NYPD Detective.” — Emily Ngo CITY HALL: THE LATEST — Adams’ top campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs and close aide Winnie Greco are expected to be named in the indictment. (New York Post) — Federal investigators are seeking communications among the former police commissioner, his twin brother and officers that might show payments made in exchange for favors to nightclubs. (New York Times) — A federal judge isn’t ready yet to appoint an “outside person” to run the city’s jails, but ordered Department of Correction leaders and lawyers for prisoners to create a plan for one. (New York Times) — The strange, forgotten story of the fourth Banks brother, Neron. (Hell Gate)   A message from Alibaba:   NEW FROM PLANET ALBANY Gov. Kathy Hochul is facing pressure to sign the bill known as the Climate Superfund Act. | Susan Watts/Office of Governor Kathy Hochul SUPERFUND FRIENDS: A measure heading to Gov. Kathy Hochul’s desk that would force companies to pay about $75 billion for the effects of climate has the backing of a Nobel Prize-winning economist. Joseph Steiglitz, a Columbia University professor, became the latest person to join a pressure campaign backed by environmental organizations and left-leaning advocates to get the governor to sign the bill known as the Climate Superfund Act. “Given the growing damages caused by a worsening climate, the expenses needed to shore up public protections from climatic changes (such as rising sea levels, more intense storms, and hotter temperatures), the Climate Superfund offers a unique way to shift the burden of at least some of those costs from the taxpaying public to the companies most responsible,” he wrote in a letter to Hochul. “It does so in a way that should protect the public from cost shifting by the impacted companies.” The measure has support from organizations like the Environmental Advocates of New York as a way of mitigating the impact of a changing climate. But private-sector organizations, including key Hochul allies like The Business Council, have urged her to veto it. — Nick Reisman More from Albany: — Republican Assemblymember Edward Flood has been disbarred as an attorney because of actions he took while representing a client in his private law practice. (Newsday) — Prisons are supposed to limit the use of solitary confinement, but getting them to follow the law has been a challenge. (NYS Focus) — Democrats are assured of keeping power in the state Legislature, and those races are no longer commanding the spotlight. (POLITICO Pro) KEEPING UP WITH THE DELEGATION John Avlon, running on Long Island, has been added to the DCCC's Red to Blue list. | Noam Galai/Getty Images for FairVote NEW TO RED TO BLUE: The DCCC will announce today that Democrat John Avlon has been added to its Red to Blue program, Playbook has learned. The House Democrats’ campaign arm made clear it considers him a top-tier challenger. It will provide him with an infusion of financial and operational support on Long Island as it expands the map of seats it hopes to flip. Avlon faces Rep. Nick LaLota, one of five Republican House freshmen who were boosted into office in New York last cycle and helped the GOP seize the majority. (Yes, Playbook did report last week that Avlon, a former CNN host, had yet to be added to Red to Blue 50 days out from Election Day, giving the impression he would have to rely on less support in his final stretch.) — Emily Ngo GOLDMAN MAKES IT RAIN: A fundraiser hosted by Rep. Dan Goldman last week produced a $150,000 haul to support Dems in battleground races: Gillen and Reps. Pat Ryan, Josh Riley and Tom Suozzi, Playbook has learned. Goldman has raised or given more than $625,000 to Frontline and Red to Blue candidates so far in this cycle. — Emily Ngo NEW YORK STATE OF MIND — Rensselaer County officials were found not guilty in a closely watched voter fraud case. (Times Union) — Westchester County is suing the city of Rye over unpaid property taxes for the Playland amusement park. (LoHud) — A notorious landlord who failed to fix a pair of crumbling apartment buildings in Manhattan is back in jail for the second time this year. (Gothamist) A message from Alibaba: New York businesses like Adirondack Fragrance & Flavor Farm are among the thousands of American brands with access to over one billion global consumers on Alibaba’s online marketplace — generating $66 billion in sales in one year alone. Seeking to expand their 43-year-old family business internationally, Adirondack Fragrance & Flavor Farm turned to Alibaba’s online marketplace. “Our partnership with Alibaba will enable us to create more job opportunities in the Adirondack region while also sharing the natural beauty of the Adirondacks with people worldwide through our clean fragrance products,” said Yen Maine, CEO. The result: American brands selling on Alibaba’s online marketplace are having a positive impact back home. In New York, sales on Alibaba added $2.3B to the state GDP and supported 18,400 full-time jobs in one year. Explore how Alibaba is strengthening New York’s economy.   SOCIAL DATA Edited by Daniel Lippman MAKING MOVES: Karen Lundgard has been named interim CEO of the Girl Scouts of Greater New York (GSGNY). She most recently served as GSGNY’s COO. … Emma Johnson is joining City Council Member Keith Powers’ office as communications director. She was previously scheduling and communications director for Assemblymember Tony Simone. … Tess Morrissey has been promoted to SVP at J Strategies. She was previously the firm’s VP of policy and strategic affairs. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: NBC’s Abby Marks … Erin Cunningham … Wells Thorne … Brandie Hopstein … Julia Joyce-Barry … (WAS WEDNESDAY): Lila Shapiro Missed Wednesday’s New York Playbook PM? We forgive you. Read it here.   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Ottawa Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our political and policy newsletters Follow us

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