AOC Confronts Eric Adams on Corruption Case During Sanctuary Cities Hearing: 'Never Any Quid Pro Quo'

Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) confronted New York City Mayor Eric Adams on the accusations against him regarding an alleged agreement reached with the Trump administration to cooperate with immigration enforcement in exchange for dropping corruption charges against him.

The two officials met at a congressional hearing called by the GOP-led House Oversight Committee to grill the Democratic mayors of New York City, Chicago, Denver and Boston over sanctuary city policies.

However, AOC focused on the accusations against Adams, using her allotted time to grill the mayor on the matter. Concretely, she asked him whether he was aware of a meeting between his attorneys and federal prosecutors regarding the charges. Adams deferred the question to the judge in charge of the case, to which AOC replied that the only way to refuse to answer a question in a hearing is by pleading the 5th Amendment.

Adams rejected to do so, claiming that deferring the question to the judge meant answering the question. "You are not," AOC replied.

Adams then lashed out at AOC: "What you're doing is asking me about communications between my attorney and I and I don't think that's appropriate because we are in a country of law an order," Adams said. After AOC asked him again whether anyone representing him agreed to a quid pro quo, Adams rejected all notions, saying "there was never any agreement, never any quid pro quo, nothing wrong." The lawmaker's time then expired, ending the exchange.

Federal prosecutors resigned from their posts in February following the request by the DOJ, accusing both Adams of engaging in a "quid pro quo" with the Trump administration, with the latter getting its DOJ to drop corruption charges against him in exchange for increased immigration enforcement in the city.

Former federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon called the decision "a breathtaking and dangerous precedent to reward Adams's opportunistic and shifting commitments on immigration." Six other prosecutors resigned as well.

Adams has denied all claims and refused to step down. New York Governor Kathy Hochul also rejected removing him after considering it. Now, as he will remain in power, he will likely face tough challenges from both Democrats and Republicans in the June elections.