Eric Adams faces calls to resign from Democrats at fiery House hearing on immigration

Embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) faced a barrage of criticism at a House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing with so-called sanctuary city mayors on Wednesday — with much of the backlash coming from his fellow Democrats. 

Adams, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu (D), Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D) and Denver Mayor Mike Johnston (D) were the subject of the hearing, during which the panel sought to highlight what Republicans see as one of their top issues.

The six-hour-long hearing saw plenty of fireworks as Republicans sought to attack the high-profile Democratic mayors on immigration. But Adams was hit with the most criticism from members of his own party following a recent move from the Justice Department to drop federal corruption charges against him. 

“Are you selling out New Yorkers to save yourself from prosecution?” Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) asked Adams, referring to allegations that Adams worked to appease the Trump administration on immigration in exchange for getting the charges against him dropped. 

“There’s no deal. There’s no quid pro quo. I did nothing wrong. And anything dealing with this case out of deference to Judge Ho, who’s now addressing it, I’m going to refer to his actions,” Adams responded. 

“I personally agree with a majority of New Yorkers and believe that you should resign. You should do the right thing, you should step down and resign today,” Garcia said.

Adams also faced a grilling from New York lawmakers, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D), whose district is located in New York City. 

The progressive congresswoman asked Adams whether he was aware of a Jan. 31 meeting between his attorneys and federal prosecutors regarding the charges against him. Adams again referred to the judge in the case. Ocasio-Cortez responded, saying deference to the judge was “not a permissible excuse for not answering questions during a congressional hearing.”

“I am answering your question directly,” Adams said. 

“You are not Mayor Adams,” Ocasio-Cortez responded. 

Adams gave a different response when Rep. Laura Gillen (D), whose district is located on neighboring Long Island, N.Y., called on him to resign. 

“Thank God you don’t live in New York City,” Adams responded. 

Adams was originally set to stand trial in April on charges of bribery, wire fraud and soliciting illegal campaign contributions, but a federal judge overseeing the criminal case indefinitely delayed the trial as he considers the effort by the Justice Department to drop the charges.

Former U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, who resigned after being ordered to drop the charges, said it amounted to a “quid pro quo” in which the case would be ended in exchange for the mayor helping the Trump administration with its immigration priorities.

Adams appeared to put on a friendly front with President Trump’s team following his election win last year. The Democratic mayor notably appeared with Trump’s boarder czar Tom Homan on “Fox and Friends” last month after Adams agreed to allow federal immigration officials to operate at Rikers Island. The moved marked a major change in New York City’s policies. The two also agreed to work together to solve the city’s “migrant problem.”

However, Adams was not the only mayor to face criticism from lawmakers on the panel during the fiery hearing. Republicans repeatedly hammered the four mayors over immigration. 

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) told the four mayors she will criminally refer them to the Justice Department over Title 8, U.S.C. § 1324, a federal law that prohibits bringing in and harboring those who migrated to the U.S. without authorization.

“I do not think you guys are bad people, but I think you are ideologically misled, which is why unfortunately based on your responses, I’m going to be criminally referring you to the Department of Justice for investigation, and as soon as I leave here, these will be going over to [Attorney General] Pam Bondi,” Luna said. 

Lawmakers on the panel also locked horns with each other, including Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and House Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who got into a shouting match after Pressley attempted to enter articles into the record. 

“This trend of you all trying to get thrown out of committee so you can get on MSNBC is going to end. We’re not going to put up with it,” Comer said, raising his voice.

“You don’t get to dictate how I recite the articles for the record,” Pressley responded. “I take particular umbrage as a survivor of sexual violence.”

“This is my right. Thank you,” she said.

Republicans view the issue of immigration, particularly sanctuary cities, as a winning one following President Trump’s election victory last November. "Sanctuary cities” generally refer to municipalities that don’t cooperate with federal detention requests for migrants without legal status.

The Trump administration has taken a particularly aggressive approach to dealing with the so-called sanctuary cities. Bondi has already sued Chicago, alleging the city has obstructed the federal government from enforcing immigration laws. Additionally, Bondi issued a memo last month saying sanctuary cities will not have access to federal funding from the Justice Department.

Homan made headlines last month when he said he was “bringing hell” to Boston for not cooperating with federal immigration authorities.

Wu called on the committee to bring Homan in to testify on the matter. 

“Let’s talk about Tom Homan. Shame on him for lying about my city. For having the nerve to insult our police commissioner who has overseen the safest Boston’s been in anyone’s lifetime,” Wu said. “Bring him here under oath and lets ask him some questions.”

“I am here to make sure that the city of Boston is safe. Others may want to bring hell. We are here to bring peace to cities everywhere,” she said.