NYS lawmakers react to Adams indictment

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10)–New York City Mayor Eric Adams is accused of accepting improper campaign contributions. In a federal indictment, he has been charged with two counts of wire fraud, two counts of solicitation of a contribution from a foreign national and one count of bribery.

Adams’ attorney criticized the way things have been handled, saying in part, “ We will see them in Court.”

After news of the federal indictment broke, calls for New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign have been mounting. Among some of the state lawmakers saying he should step down is Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal.

“Nobody saying he’s guilty, or not guilty because that will be determined in the courts,” said Rosenthal. “However, when you’re mayor of New York City, which has been called the second toughest job in America, you need to have your full focus on running the government.”

Rosenthal said she can’t see how that will be possible while also defending against serious charges. Senator Gustavo Rivera feels similarly and spoke to vacancies in the administration.

“At this moment right now, we don’t have a permanent police commissioner. We have a school chancellor who’s resigning. We have a health commissioner who’s resigning. We have a corporate council who quit. We have a chief council who quit, and this is just Thursday,” said Rivera. “By the time next week rolls around, we might have a couple more people running for the doors.”

While he hasn’t called for Adam’s resignation, state Senator James Sanders Jr. said the mayor and his team must carefully consider what’s best for him and the city. Sanders is urging people not to rush to judgement.

“The constitutional right of innocent until proven guilty should not be thrown away. American’s have fought hard for those rights to be seen as innocent. That means even when people are in real difficult positions or if people that we don’t like, let’s say, we still have to try to hold an idea of our constitutional rights.”

Adams addressed New Yorkers in a press conference saying he’s not stepping down.

https://www.news10.com/video/mayor-eric-adams-says-he-will-not-resign/10077438/

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