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By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is preparing to sue the Trump Administration over its clawback of $80 million in federal funding previously granted to cover the cost of migrant housing in NYC. As reported by the NY Times, on Friday, the mayor’s office sent a letter to the city comptroller saying that their Law Department is “drafting litigation papers” to fight the White House’s clawback of the funds, which were transferred earlier this month to NY by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Liz Garcia, a spokeswoman for Mayor Adams, said the suit is expected to be filed by Friday.
Mayor Adams’ decision to take a legal stand against the Trump administration comes at critical timing for the mayor, who has faced increased pressure to resign after Manhattan’s acting U.S. attorney, Danielle R. Sassoon, accused him of giving into Trump’s immigration policy in exchange for having the corruption charges against him dropped. The accusations came after last Monday, the Justice Department’s Emil Bove III, ordered Manhattan prosecutors to drop the case against Mr. Adams.
Mr. Bove said the order had nothing to do with the case’s legal merit, but rather that the case would impede Mr. Adams’s ability to cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration policies. The highly unusual request prompted a crisis within the Justice Department, with Ms. Sassoon refusing to obey and resigning on Thursday—with at least six other prosecutors in NY and Washington doing the same. Per the NY Times, on Friday night, Bove himself signed the request asking the judge to dismiss the criminal charges against Adams.
Mr. Adams has adamantly rejected the notion that he traded his authority in the immigration matter for getting his criminal case thrown out. Still, he has not had an easy time convincing New Yorkers of this. On Thursday, Mayor Adams said he will allow federal immigration authorities to operate within the Rikers Island jail complex. Also, on Friday morning he announced he would cooperate with the White House to deport immigrants accused of committing crimes, per a joint appearance on “Fox and Friends” together with President Trump’s border czar, Thomas Homan.
Mayor Adams’ new move of legally challenging the Trump Administration may be a bid to show his continued autonomy. It also, however, highlights the nature of the White House’s $80 million clawback— which may be one of the first cases in which the Trump admin has seized back funds from a locality that were allocated by congress. City leaders had been shocked to find that $80 million in FEMA funds was missing from city account on Wednesday morning.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the agency, soon confirmed that it had taken the money back. Per the NY Times, on Friday, Brad Lander, the city’s comptroller who is running for the mayor’s seat in the upcoming Democratic primary, sent a letter to the Law Department calling on Mr. Adams to pursue “aggressive legal action” against President Trump over the revoked funds. Lander said he will do it himself if the mayor “would prefer to spend his days advancing President Trump’s agenda instead of fighting for New Yorkers.” The Law Department’s response announcing its intent to sue, which came just hours later, declined Mr. Lander’s offer to become involved as external legal counsel.
