Sparked by Kamala Harris query, Eric Adams seeks to curtail political questions

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams is looking to control the questions reporters ask him — an unusual declaration in response to a query about his role supporting Kamala Harris.

Adams’ chief City Hall counsel, Lisa Zornberg, on Tuesday instructed journalists to refrain from asking purely political questions at the mayor's weekly press briefing — a position she later softened.

“That’s not a proper question to ask during a city event,” Zornberg said in response to the question about Adams’ potential role in Harris’ presidential campaign.

The mayor, who once fancied himself a national spokesperson for the Democratic Party, had already answered five questions about his muted role at the party's national convention in Chicago this week.

“Please refrain from asking specific questions solely campaign-related about the presidential campaign or other campaigns … that should not be done during a city press conference,” Zornberg later said.

There are no other routine opportunities to ask questions of Adams. The mayor’s press team makes him available only once a week for questions on any topic.

About one hour later on Tuesday, Zornberg issued a statement walking back her position.

“We are not attempting to limit the questions asked by the press,” she said. “There are, however, some limitations on what the mayor and city personnel can say about political campaigns in the context of an official city press conference.”

Zornberg attributed her take to guidance from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board, which enforces rules designed to prevent graft.

Fabien Levy, deputy mayor for communications, indicated Zornberg received that guidance over the phone. He declined to detail what attorneys in the office advised, though the mayor suggested that the COIB offered the interpretation that political questions were out of bounds inside City Hall.

“We don’t make these rules. We don’t agree with all of them,” the mayor said. “But if the COIB gives us something, we have to adhere to what they give.”

The new take on existing conflict rules comes a few days after it was reported that Adams himself received a subpoena in a federal investigation into his 2021 campaign’s potential ties to Turkey.

Richard Briffault, who once chaired the COIB, said there is a point where a press conference can cross the line. But he did not think any rules would bar the mayor from answering a specific question about politics.

“It's hard to see how responding to a single question is pursuing ‘personal and private activities,” he said via email. “It's a matter of proportion, and if the political issues start to take over the news conference, the mayor should cut off the questioning.”

Zornberg cited conflict-of-interest rules that bar elected officials from using taxpayer-funded resources to benefit themselves or political campaigns. In this case, she argued, the City Hall press room was the resource that was being improperly deployed.

A New York-based former government lawyer questioned Zornberg’s characterization of the statutes.

“It’s bullshit — and that’s a legal term you can understand,” said the attorney, who was granted anonymity to speak freely about a sensitive matter.

Answering questions from the press is the job of the mayor, and is different from doing material work for a campaign like calling donors, holding strategy calls inside City Hall or holding a rally on the steps of the government building, the attorney said.

Former Mayors Bill de Blasio, Michael Bloomberg and Rudy Giuliani routinely answered questions from reporters about politics.

And up until Tuesday, Adams was no exception.

In this case, the question that sparked Zornberg’s intervention was whether the mayor was disappointed or surprised he didn’t have a more prominent role with the Harris campaign, given his background and entrée with Black voters.

Adams answered that he is playing a prominent role, and will be doing outreach in the city — and reiterated it is the Harris campaign’s decision about where and how he might be best deployed.

“There's no ego. She's running for president … and it is not my job to try to supersede her running for president,” Adams said. “This is not the Eric show. This is her show.”