A lawsuit argues that an executive order that City Hall issued last week is “part of a corrupt quid pro quo bargain” between Mayor Eric Adams of New York and President Trump.
The City Council sued Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday in an attempt to block an executive order that permitted the Trump administration to open offices at the Rikers Island jail complex as part of its immigration crackdown.
The lawsuit argues that the executive order City Hall issued last week, which allows federal immigration agents to re-establish a presence at Rikers after being banned from the jail in 2014, is “part of a corrupt quid pro quo bargain” between the mayor and President Trump.
The Democratic-led City Council argued that Mr. Adams, who is also a Democrat, had abused the power of his office, and accused him of helping Mr. Trump enact his mass deportation agenda as payback for the Justice Department’s move to end the federal corruption case against the mayor.
“This is a naked attempt by Eric Adams to fulfill his end of the bargain for special treatment he received from the Trump administration,” Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is running against the mayor, said in a statement.
The lawsuit, filed in state court, set the stage for an extraordinary intraparty showdown between the City Council and Mr. Adams, who has grappled with blowback for embracing Mr. Trump and recently announced he would seek a second term as an independent in the November general election.
The litigation, if protracted or successful, could present a roadblock for the Trump administration in its efforts to regain access to New York City jails, which Thomas Homan, the president’s border czar, has repeatedly said is a priority as it seeks to deport immigrants accused of crimes. The mayor has rejected any notion of a quid pro quo and maintained his innocence.
![[GOOD PRESS] ON](https://georgemagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/16389056566437433941_2048-300x300.jpeg)
