Donald Trump Floats Pardon for Eric Adams

Under legal fire, New York City Mayor Eric Adams may have an unlikely ally in incoming president Donald Trump.

On Monday morning, Trump floated the possibility of a pardon for Adams, FOX 5 NY reported. Trump made no promise to Adams during his Mar-a-Lago news conference, but said he would “consider” a pardon when asked by reporters about the case.

Trump admitted to not knowing the specifics of the charges Adams is facing. But Adams threw some support Trump’s way following his election, despite running a solidly left-learning city, saying he would work with the Trump administration. Adams also curtailed a migrant credit card program, viewed by some as a shift on the wider migrant crisis that was a focus of Trump’s campaign.

For Trump’s part, his own legal challenges — particularly in his home state of New York — may be making him and Adams into kindred spirits. At the Al Smith dinner in October, Trump noted that both of the men were persecuted by the government.

In September, Adams pleaded not guilty to five criminal charges stemming from an alleged bribery scheme that purportedly saw the mayor receive luxury travel and fraudulent campaign donations.

The mayor is accused of receiving illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals and a pair of construction executives who routed them through individuals, circumventing donation limits and triggering public matching funds to his mayoral campaign.

The mayor also allegedly helped benefactors secure city approvals for construction projects, such as a temporary certificate of occupancy at a new Turkish consulate, despite warnings the building was not safe.

Much like Trump, Adams has been defiant in the wake of the indictment, refusing to bow to pressure to resign.

Trump’s comments on Monday came as the mayor’s top aide, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, abruptly resigned, according to Politico; she expects to be indicted imminently, the New York Post reported.

The scandal continues to drag in real estate figures. Those being pulled into investigators’ orbits include New York City and Hamptons hotelier Mayank Dwivedi and broker Diana Boutross, who was responsible for city leases, according to the New York Times.

Meanwhile, the Campaign Finance Board denied the mayor’s campaign any matching funds, crippling his already damaged re-election bid, the Times reported.

— Holden Walter-Warner