New York City Mayor Eric Adams thought he had offended the Justice Department after he spoke negatively about the Biden administration's immigration policies.
Adams was indicted by a federal judge in September and faces five counts, including bribery, solicitation of campaign contributions from outsiders, fraud and conspiracy. He denied all charges.
“I didn't break the law. I didn't do anything wrong — that's how I live my life. And that's how I'm going to continue to live my life,” Adams said in a sit-down interview Wednesday with Fox News. Martha MacCallum in “The Story.”
FBI RAIDS HOMES OF NEW YORK CITY MAYOR ERIC ADAMS' TOP AIDES
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is flanked by his Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, left, and counselor Ingrid Lewis-Martin, during the weekly news conference in the City Hall Blue Room on March 5, 2024, in New York. (Luiz C. Ribeiro/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
He said the timing of the trial was “clearly suspect” and vowed to continue to fight for what he believes is right.
Damian Williams, United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, in a statement the time of the trial that Adams “abused his position as the city's top elected official, and before that as Brooklyn Borough President, to take bribes and solicit illegal campaign contributions.”
“By allegedly taking improper and illegal benefits from outsiders — including allowing a Manhattan skyscraper to open without a fire inspection — Adams put the interests of his beneficiaries, including a foreign official, above those of his own people,” the statement read. .
At press time, Mayor Adams announced a 60-day new residency ban for older Immigrants/Asylum Seekers in urban shelters. (Luiz C. Ribeiro of the NY Daily News via Getty Images)
MacCallum asked the NYC mayor if he was concerned about whether the FBI would disclose information in its investigation after his top adviser. resigned earlier this week during the reports he will be charged with crimes.
“No,” Adams said nervously. “They all have lawyers. And I don't want to do anything that will interfere with their cases, but I tell my team, and I do, we follow the law. This is about following the law. I didn't spend 22 years as a law enforcement officer breaking the law.”
Adams' former aide was charged with witness tampering and tampering with evidence in October is said to have extinguished Signal, an encrypted communications app, on his phone that was reportedly used to communicate with the mayor.
President-elect Donald Trump said he would consider pardoning Adams after being asked by a reporter at a Mar-a-Lago press conference earlier this week.
“Yes, I think he was treated unfairly. Now, I haven't seen the severity of it all, but he seems to know, like the development in the plane many years ago,” said Trump.
MAJORITY OF NEW YORK CITIZENS WANTS LEGISLATIVE MAYOR ERIC ADAMS RESIGNED: POLL
Adams said he did not ask for a pardon from the incoming 47th president and in their conversations, they only talked about their love for NYC and how they could work together.
President-elect Donald Trump arrives to speak at a news conference at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Friday, Oct. 25, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
“I work with the president and his administration, I am not fighting with him. I repeat that quote. And my lawyer is a high-level lawyer. He will manage all the channels to do justice. I should not have been charged,” continued Adams.
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“No American should have to go through what I'm going through right now. This country believes in justice and what I'm going through.[ing] it is not just a professional tragedy; a personal tragedy.”
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