Ocasio-Cortez calls on Eric Adams to resign

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) urged New York City Mayor Eric Adams to resign in a social media post Wednesday, claiming that the investigations, resignations and vacancies surrounding his administration are “threatening” the ability of the government to function.

“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City. The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration,” Ocasio-Cortez said Wednesday in a post on the social platform X.

“For the good of the city, he should resign,” she added.

In an emailed statement, Adams said that Ocasio-Cortez’s push for him to resign is due to “rumors and innuendo.”

“For anyone who self-righteously claims people charged with serious crimes should not be in jail to now say that the second Black mayor of New York should resign because of rumors and innuendo — without even a single charge being filed — is the height of hypocrisy,” he said in the statement.

“I am leading this city to protect it from exactly that kind of phony politics. The people of this city elected me to fight for them, and I will stay and fight no matter what,” he added.

Adams and his associates face several inquiries.

Earlier this month, federal agents conducted searches of the homes of New York City’s police commissioner and at least three top deputies to Adams, The Hill reported.

The searches come after Adams had his home raided by the FBI in February as part of an investigation conducted by the U.S. attorney’s office in Brooklyn.

His associates’ homes were searched months earlier as part of a federal corruption probe centered on the mayor’s 2021 election campaign, which allegedly conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations.

In the post, Ocasio-Cortez included a link to a New York Times article that describes her call on Adams to resign.

New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks submitted his resignation earlier this week after federal agents seized his phone earlier this month, The Associated Press reported.

Earlier this month, New York City Police Commissioner Edward Caban also resigned nearly a week after the FBI seized his devices.

The New York Times reported that Adams claims he isn’t leaving and that neither he nor his closest associates have been formally accused of wrongdoing.

“We are constantly bringing in new people,” he told reporters at City Hall, according to The New York Times. “So let’s not give the image that all of a sudden, there are people saying, ‘Hey, I don’t want to be in city government.’”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) defended Adams on Wednesday morning.

“As far as I can tell, Mayor Adams is trying to do the best that he can in one of the toughest jobs in the world to keep the focus on meeting the needs of the residents of the people of New York City,” Jeffries said.

The Hill reported Tuesday that federal investigators have declined to comment on the ongoing investigation connected to the seizures.

Story updated at 4:56 p.m. EDT