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By Daniel Trotta and Jasper Ward
(Reuters) - New York Governor Kathy Hochul on Monday said she will meet key leaders on Tuesday for a conversation about the future of embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams, as she faces pressure to remove him from office after President Donald Trump's Justice Department asked to drop criminal charges against him.
"Tomorrow, I have asked key leaders to meet me at my Manhattan office for a conversation about the path forward, with the goal of ensuring stability for the City of New York,” she said in a statement.
The meeting comes after four deputies to Adams said they plan to resign in a withdrawal of support for the embattled mayor amid the DOJ citing his sympathies with Trump's immigration policy as a factor in dropping charges.
Hochul said that she had spoken with the deputies and that their intention to resign "raises questions about the long-term future of this Mayoral administration."
Adams has refused to step down.
The attempt drop the case against Adams had already prompted mass resignations in the Justice Department by officials who refused to comply with the decision to drop charges, which had been affirmed in a grand jury indictment.
City Comptroller Brad Lander has urged Adams to provide a contingency plan for the leadership vacuum the resignations would create, threatening to take measures that could force him from office.
"Should your office be unable or unwilling to formulate such a plan promptly, I will seek to convene a meeting of the Inability Committee," Lander said in an open letter to Adams published on Sunday.
The city charter enables the comptroller to call for the formation of a committee to force out the mayor.
Hochul also has the authority to initiate removal proceedings. In her Monday statement, she said a governor has not had to use these powers to remove a duly-elected mayor in the state's 235-year history.
"The alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored," she said.
Adams, a Democrat and former police officer elected in 2022, has been under pressure to resign since federal prosecutors brought a five-count criminal indictment last September charging him with accepting travel perks from Turkish officials and political donations from foreigners in exchange for taking actions to benefit Turkey.
Adams pleaded not guilty, has denied any wrongdoing, and said he would not resign.
After Trump came back into office on January 20, however, the new leadership of the Justice Department sought to dismiss the charges.
U.S. District Judge Dale Ho still must sign off on the request.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta, Jasper Ward and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Gerry Doyle)
