‘Prosecutor And Jury’: CNN’s Elie Honig On How New York Governor Could Remove NYC Mayor Eric Adams From Office

Newly indicted New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) pleaded not guilty to the charges against him on Friday, but his time in office could still be cut short by New York’s governor.

Reports have emerged that New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) was weighing the possibility of invoking an obscure statute in New York State law that gives her the authority to remove the NYC mayor from office. CNN’s Elie Honig explained how that would work to anchor Brianna Keilar on Friday:

New York law gives the governor the power to begin a process to remove a mayor. And that can be the mayor of Manhattan, that could be the mayor of Poughkeepsie, any town in New York state. All it tells us is that the governor has to start the process. Notify the mayor: “Hey, I’m trying to remove you.”

The mayor has to be given a chance to defend himself. And then it looks like the final decision gets made by the governor, who essentially serves as prosecutor and jury. It actually has not been used in New York, this law, Brianna, since FDR, when he was governor of New York State, used it nearly 100 years ago. So we’re going to be digging through the history books here. It sounds like the governor’s people are reportedly doing just that. But ultimately, it will be her decision whether she initiates this process to remove Eric Adams.

Adams was indicted on federal corruption charges related to his involvement with Turkish government officials. Several members of his administration and others close to it have had their homes raided and cell phones confiscated; many of them have already resigned from their positions.

Watch the video above via CNN.