CNN’s Elie Honig Laughs Off Eric Adams’s Claim That He’s Being Targeted for Fighting for New Yorkers
CNN’s Elie Honig laughed off New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s claim that he is being targeted because he has stood his ground for New Yorkers on Wednesday, arguing that prosecutors wouldn’t have indicted him unless they were “damn sure” they had the evidence to convict him.
Anchor Kaitlan Collins elicited the chuckle from Honig after reading a portion of a statement released by Adams once news broke that he would be a defendant in a federal criminal case.
“He [Adams] gave a statement to The New York Times tonight and said, and I’m quoting him now, ‘I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target and a target I became. If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit,'” she observed.
“Not only will we see Eric Adams, the sitting mayor, in a courtroom tomorrow in lower Manhattan. We will see him sitting at the defendant’s table with his criminal defense lawyers by his side. And he will enter a plea of not guilty. He will be advised of the charges against him in the indictment,” replied Honig.
“As to his claim that he’s being targeted because he is the mayor, New York City has had mayors for hundreds and hundreds of years, of course. He is the first one to be charged while sitting in office, so that sounds like a stretch to me,” he added with a chuckle.
Later, Collins asked Honig what “the bar” for bringing charges against a sitting mayor would look like.
“I’m going to put this real unscientifically for you: if you’re going to charge the sitting mayor of New York City, you better be damn sure that you have the evidence on him, because if you don’t, it will be a disaster,” answered Honig. “We now know that the SDNY does believe it can do that and ultimately prove it beyond a reasonable doubt to a unanimous jury, by the way, of New Yorkers, of a jury pool that will be drawn from Manhattan, and the Bronx, and the other northern counties. So, man, they better be darn sure in this charge if they’re going to bring it.”
Watch above via CNN.
