New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) plugged FBI Director Kash Patel’s book on the “deep state” at the end of his remarks reacting to the corruption case against him officially being dropped. 

Adams said in his remarks on Wednesday that the case against him should never have been brought and maintained that he didn’t do anything wrong. He said New Yorkers stop him “all the time” trying to find the rationale for why charges were brought, and he found the rationale in Patel’s book, “Government Gangsters: The Deep State, the Truth, and the Battle for our Democracy.” 

“I’m going to encourage every New Yorker to read it,” he said. “Read it and understand how we can never allow this to happen to another innocent American.” 

Adams’s move is just the latest in a string of comments he has made and steps he has taken tying himself to President Trump and those around him. He has for months claimed without evidence that he was indicted on charges including bribery and wire fraud for political reasons as he criticized the Biden administration’s immigration policy. 

Trump has similarly claimed he was indicted in politically motivated cases.

Adams has said his willingness to work with Trump is looking out for the best interest of his constituents, but Democrats have been alarmed by his relationship with the president and questioned his motives. 

He has avoided criticizing Trump, as most other prominent Democrats had throughout the 2024 campaign and during the first months of his second term in the White House. He met with Trump shortly before Trump returned to office and attended Trump’s inauguration, canceling his previous schedule to do so. 

Adams also received attention for sitting for an interview with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson, who has regularly spread misinformation on various topics and has ties to Trump. 

Patel served in various roles in the first Trump administration and has received criticism for spreading conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election; the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot; and the idea of a deep state controlling the country. 

His book makes false claims about the origins of the FBI’s 2016 investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia and the Jan. 6 attack. 

Weeks after Trump was sworn in, the Department of Justice (DOJ) moved to have the case against Adams dropped, arguing that it had been tainted by the appearances of impropriety and it was interfering with Adams’s ability to address crime and illegal immigration. It did not argue against the merits of the case. 

Several prosecutors overseeing the case resigned in protest to the case being dropped. 

U.S. District Judge Dale Ho rejected the DOJ’s rationales for dropping the case as unsubstantiated but said he didn’t have much choice but to drop it. Ho had the case dropped with prejudice, meaning it can’t be refiled. 

The DOJ had requested it be dropped without prejudice, raising concerns among some that Adams would be subservient to the administration and must act as it wants to avoid the charges being refiled. 

Adams said during his roughly five-minute remarks that he is pleased the city can “close the book on this” and can look to the future. He thanked his attorney and New Yorkers who stuck by him. 

“What I want you to know is that I never stopped working for you,” he said. 

After Adams concluded, a reporter asked him a question about his reelection plans. Adams said he is running, as he has said before, and that he would win. 

But Adams is facing a significant hurdle toward winning a second term. His favorability rating has been poor, and a majority of New Yorkers have consistently said that he should resign. 

He has also been trailing former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) in polls of the Democratic primary by a large margin, often only receiving support in the high single digits or low double digits. 

Adams has also continued to receive questions about whether he would run as a Democrat in the election. He ruled out a switch to the Republican Party in February and said he is gathering signatures to be on the ballot, but he has taken few public steps indicating he is running.