Mamdani’s Legal Department Seeks to End Its Representation of Eric Adams

New York City’s legal department on Tuesday sought to end its defense of former Mayor Eric Adams in a 2024 sexual assault case, asking a judge for permission to stop representing the 65-year-old because it had determined that he was not carrying out official duties when he was accused of committing the act in question.

“Based on my review of new evidence since the original decision to represent him was made, I have determined that he is not entitled to representation by the City in this matter,” Steve Banks, the chief lawyer for New York City and an appointee of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, said in a statement. “Accordingly, the Law Department has asked the court to permit our office to withdraw from representing the former Mayor.”

Adams was accused of sexual assault in a 2024 lawsuit filed by Lorna Beach-Mathura, who said that Adams pressured her to perform oral sex when he was her superior at the New York Police Department transit bureau in 1993.

In her 26-page lawsuit, Beach-Mathura says that she reached out to Adams for career advice, after which he drove her to an abandoned property and made sexual advances.

“When she refused, Defendant Adams forcibly pushed Plaintiff’s hand onto his erect penis, and then, after she removed her hand, masturbated himself to completion and ejaculated on her,” the suit read.

Adams has adamantly denied the accusations. In a statement to Politico, Todd Shapiro, a spokesperson for Adams, did not confirm whether Adams will retain private counsel, adding that Adams “has been proven innocent before and remains confident that the facts will ultimately prevail.”

In Tuesday’s filing, the city’s counsel argued that Adams was not in his official capacity at the mayor’s office at the time of the accusation and should therefore be required to get his own representation.

“Accordingly, because this Office has concluded that Mr. Adams was not acting within the scope of his City employment at the time the acts or omissions alleged in the Complaint occurred, he no longer is eligible for representation … and leave of Court is sought to withdraw this Office’s representation of Eric Adams.”