New York City Mayor Eric Adams is facing five criminal charges alleging he accepted unpaid, opulent overseas travel, illegal foreign campaign contributions, and official favor trading during his 2021 mayoral campaign—the first sitting mayor in the city’s history to be indicted on federal charges. Fordham Law Professor Zephyr Teachout is quoted in a Gothamist article detailing reactions from legal experts, political observers, and others on Adams’s video statement shared shortly after news broke of his indictment on Sept. 25.
The troubled legal history of Adams’ 2021 campaign fundraising also belies the notion that the mayor is being targeted by the Biden Department of Justice. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who won the conviction against Trump, indicted six individuals for illegal donations to Adams’ 2021 campaign more than a year ago; well before the feds filed their indictment.
“They’re not eating the dogs in Springfield and they’re not going after Adams because of his objections on migrant policy,” said Zephyr Teachout, a professor at Fordham University Law School and progressive former Democratic political candidate.
She said the mayor was trying to get out in front of prosecutors with an alternate story that made him the victim, as opposed to the perpetrator of a crime. The goal was to give the public a new lens through which to see whatever came out in the indictment, even if that story was not true.
“It was a very Trumpian reach,” Teachout added.
But she voiced doubt that it would resonate. Teachout said Adams’ strategy risks alienating voters who may not feel sympathetic once they learn Adams is accused of pilfering luxury goods.
“If you are worried about your public library not being open or trash on the streets, the idea that your mayor is looking for angles to go on a fancy vacation as soon as he’s given the Turkish government a favor, it’s enraging,” said Teachout.