Mayor Eric Adams plans to file a lawsuit in opposition to the Trump administration subsequent week after the feds secretly clawed again greater than $80 million in migrant funding from New York Metropolis’s coffers, in accordance with a letter obtained by The Submit.
Counsel for the Adams administration issued a letter to metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander Friday stating that the town’s Legislation Division is trying to take authorized motion by Feb. 21 to recoup the $80.5 million Federal Emergency Administration Company funds taken by the feds on Tuesday.
“The Legislation Division is at the moment drafting litigation papers with respect to this matter,” the letter, penned by company counsel Mureil Goode-Trufant, stated.
“We intend to provoke authorized motion by February 21, 2025. Because the Legislation Division is representing the Metropolis of New York on this matter, there isn’t any want for an authorization for the Comptroller’s Workplace to have interaction exterior authorized counsel.”
The letter was despatched simply hours after Lander demanded the Adams administration both file a lawsuit or grant him permission to rent his personal attorneys to carry a case in opposition to Trump and Division of Authorities Effectivity honcho Elon Musk.
“Given the gravity of the state of affairs, we can not afford to waste any extra time,” Lander, who’s working in opposition to Adams within the June Democratic mayoral main, stated in a press release Friday.
“If the Mayor would like to spend his days advancing President Trump’s agenda as a substitute of combating for New Yorkers, then the Legislation Division should enable me to take action.”
The sudden withdrawal of FEMA funds from New York Metropolis’s accounts unfolded on Tuesday – with out Adams’ information – and was found the subsequent morning by Lander, who accused Trump and the richest man alive of “freeway theft.”
Musk claimed this week that DOGE “found” a $59 million FEMA fee to the Large Apple was being wasted on “luxurious resorts in New York Metropolis to accommodate unlawful migrants.”
Trump later echoed that comment as he defended the seizure, contending that “large fraud” was happening.
New York Metropolis utilized for and was awarded two separate grants of $58.6 million and $21.9 million below the Biden administration as metropolis officers scrambled for federal assist to pay for the prices shouldered for sheltering migrants who flowed over the US-Mexico border, in accordance with metropolis and federal officers.
Metropolis Corridor officers gently rebutted Musk’s declare, declaring solely $19 million can be used to reimburse previous bills for housing migrants in resorts – and that it got here from cash accredited by Congress.
The funds had been made below the Shelter and Providers Program that Congress appropriated $650 million towards in 2024 to assist pay again native governments, together with New York Metropolis, for the large value of the migrant disaster, which is now $7 billion.
The FEMA cash, funded by US Customs and Border Safety, supplied $12.50 an evening reimbursement for every lodge room, metropolis officers stated, including many of the 150-odd resorts utilized by the town to accommodate migrants aren’t luxurious lodging.
The remainder of the cash would go towards safety, meals and different companies for migrants, officers stated.
Till Friday, it remained unclear if Adams would take authorized motion in opposition to Trump.
The Division of Justice ordered prosecutors to drop their federal corruption case in opposition to the mayor, in a transfer Hizzoner’s allies feared would make him a “hostage” to the brand new president.
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