New York Democratic Representative Alexandria Okasio Cortez He clashed with the mayor of New York City Eric Adam Ministry of Justice(Doj) moves to drop a criminal case against it.
The back was so heated so much that at some point, OCASIO-Cortez asked the democratic mayor whether he does not answer a question because he believes he “criminalizes” himself.
Newsweek He arrived at the Adams office via email for comment.
Context
The Ministry of Justice made a controversial decision last month to move to reject the charges of criminal bribery against Adams so that the mayor could help the president Donald Trump With the enforcement of the immigration agenda.
The direction of the Ministry of Justice to drop the case has pushed more than half of the Federal Public Prosecutors to resign from the Public Prosecutor’s Office in Manhattan – including the American lawyer, Daniel Sasson – of the Federal Public Corruption Unit of the Ministry of Justice in Washington, DC.
He also paid calls from several DemocratsIncluding OCASIO-Cortez, to resign or remove Adams from his post by New York Governor Cathy Hochol.
Francis Chung/Politico via AP photos
What do you know
During the hearing of the House of Representatives Supervision Committee on Wednesday, Okasio Cortez Adams faced the decision of the Ministry of Justice and the events that led to this.
I asked the mayor first if he was aware that his lawyer met with senior Ministry of Justice officials on January 31 to discuss the dropping of the case against him. The meeting was reported for the first time in The New York Times.
Adams replied: “As I mentioned to your colleagues and I will continue to stay, because we are asking the same question over and over again -“
“This is not the same question,” said Okasio Cortez.
Then Adams said that, given that the request of the Ministry of Justice to drop his criminal case is still pending before the judge, he refuses to answer “out of respect for our criminal justice system.”
Okasio Cortez pushed back, and Adams told that “the only way allowed to refuse to answer a question during Congressing actions like this is through the retreat of the fifth amendment.”
“Respect for the judge is not an excuse allowed for not answering the questions during a hearing in Congress,” she said. “Do you intend to beg to the fifth today?”
AOC: Mayor Adam Do you intend to beg to the fifth?
Adams: I answer your question directly
AOC: You are not .. Do you want you … pic.twitter.com/10aigo3vyf
– Acyn (Acyn) March 5, 2025
Adams repeated that he would not answer the question because the proposal was still suspended in front of Judge Del A.
The New York members continued to pressure Adams, and asked him whether he was aware that Sasson was present at the January 31 meeting between Adams’s lawyer and federal prosecutors in New York and senior officials of the Ministry of Justice.
As I mentioned, and you, a member of Congress, it seems that you want to ask the question over and over again … This case before the judge is -“
“Well, I understand,” said Ocasio-Cortez, cutting Adams. “Mayor Adams, do you not answer this question because you think you will run yourself?”
Adams continued to say that because of his “respect” to him, he refuses to answer the questions of Okasio Cortez.
What people say
Democratic actor Robert Garcia from California also faced Adams during the session: “Mr. Mayor, it seems to me, at least, that you are selling New York residents. It seems that you are working with [Trump’s border czar] Tom HumanWho clearly focuses on the family separation and deportation and harm New York and others throughout the country. “
Garcia later wrote on x: “Eric Adams sells New York residents to save himself from the prosecution of the Justice Ministry of Justice. It must resign.”
In a letter to the American Prosecutor Bam Bondi shortly before Sasson’s resignation, the former American lawyer expressed his concerns about the dropping of the Adams case, and partial writing: Adams’s lawyers urged “repeated and repeatedly as an interest in Quid, indicating that Adams will be in a position to help with the priorities of the enforcement of management only if the indictment is rejected.”
What happens after that
he Last month delayed From the ruling on the request of the Ministry of Justice to drop the case, and told the lawyers to Adams and the Ministry of Justice that he would not “shoot from the hip”. Conservative lawyer Paul Clement appointed To present the arguments of “Friends of the Court” against the request of the Ministry of Justice to refuse the charges.
Two Democratic lawmakers on Monday Send a message To Bondi, accusing the Ministry of Justice of covering up the Adams case.
“We write to demand that you put an end immediate Congress“Democratic actors Jimmy Raskin from Maryland and Yasmine Crocate From Texas wrote.
“The idea that there is a professional lie is a complete lie. We have not shown anything and the administration has not asked anything from us,” Adams’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, told reporters in a previous statement.
