Eric Adams Defends His Top Aide Who Is Becoming A Liability For Adams’ Re-Elections

In response to a fourth lawsuit accusing the former NYPD inspector of sexual misconduct and retaliation, Mayor Eric Adams spoke out in defense of his close friend and advisor Timothy Pearson on Tuesday.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams.Photo byNYC Mayors Office From Flickr

A deputy police chief filed the 91-page lawsuit in Manhattan’s state Supreme Court. It said Pearson sexually harassed a former NYPD police officer last year and the year before when he ran a secret mayoral office and got $242,600 from the city’s Economic Development Corp for something unrelated.

It also said Pearson had a history of sexual harassment complaints going back decades to when he was in the NYPD. One of these complaints was that he abused a preacher in Queens and then tried to scare her. The suit also said Adams should have known about Pearson’s allegedly shady past before hiring him.

The lawsuit on Tuesday is the latest in a string of bad news about Pearson that makes him a bigger problem for Adams as he runs for reelection.

The mayor said he wouldn’t change Pearson’s broad but robust duties, even though new claims had come forward that the top assistant sexually harassed subordinates and then destroyed their jobs when they spoke out against his behavior.

Adams likes to support his friends, even if they are being accused of serious crimes or putting him in political danger.

The mayor got angry when repeatedly asked if he knew about Pearson’s claims before hiring him two years ago. He even thought out loud that he might call security on the reporter asking him questions because he didn’t want to answer them.

John Flannery of Wilson Elser, Pearson’s city-paid lawyer, told the Daily News that Pearson denies all the claims against him in all the cases.