Nadler calls for Eric Adams to resign

Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) released a statement Friday calling for the resignation of New York City Mayor Eric Adams, arguing that the mayor is unable to “effectively” lead the city as Adams faces a five-count criminal indictment stemming from a federal corruption investigation.

“My belief is that the Mayor has lost the ability to effectively lead the City of New York, and therefore, he must resign,” Nadler said in a statement on the social platform X.

Adams was charged earlier this week with wire fraud, foreign contribution solicitation and bribery. He denied allegations of wrongdoing in a press conference Thursday and insisted that he wouldn’t resign as mayor.

Nadler said in the statement that while Adams deserves to be treated as presumed innocent until proven guilty, he questions whether he can continue to lead “effectively.”

“While the criminal charges outlined in the indictment by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York are very serious, Mayor Adams deserves the right to due process and to be treated as presumed innocent until proven guilty,” he said. “However, there are questions of whether the Mayor can continue to effectively lead our City as Mayor at this time.”

When contacted for comment, the mayor’s press office pointed The Hill to a press conference from Adams on Thursday, where he said that he is still committed to his duties as mayor.

“From here, my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city. My day-to-day will not change. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do and the 300,000 plus employees of our city government will continue to do their job because this is what we do as New Yorkers,” Adams said at the press conference.

Nadler’s pressure on Adams comes two days after fellow New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) urged the mayor to resign, 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,” Ocasio-Cortez said Wednesday in a post on X. “The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration.”

Adams pushed back on her comments in an emailed statement to The Hill Wednesday, saying her push for him to resign was based on “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 wrote.

Still, many Democrats have stopped short of urging Adams to resign.

“Like every other New Yorker and American, Eric Adams is entitled to the presumption of innocence. That principle is central to the administration of justice in the United States of America,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), who defended Adams’s track record just a day earlier, said in a statement. “A jury of the Mayor’s peers will now evaluate the charges in the indictment and ultimately render a determination.”

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking New York Democrat in the country, wrote in a statement that the legal process should proceed.

“No one is above the law, including the Mayor of New York City,” Schumer said. “The charges are serious, and the legal process should now play out speedily and fairly.”

Updated at 4:23 p.m.