New York City Mayor Eric Adams has denied sexual assaulting a woman in 1993, as alleged in a summons filed in Manhattan court this week.
The summons was filed under New York State’s Adult Survivors Act, a law that went into effect last Thanksgiving and gave adults a one-year window, until this week, to sue over sexual abuse that occurred long ago even if statutes of limitations have expired. Writer E. Jean Carroll sued former President Trump under the law, accusing him of raping her in the 1990s, and a jury found him liable for sexual assault.
The woman suing Mayor Adams, who worked for the City of New York at the time of the alleged incident according to the filing, is seeking $5 million in damages.
On Thursday, Adams told reporters the alleged assault “absolutely did not happen,” nor does he recall ever meeting the woman.
“That is not who I am, and that is not who I’ve ever been in my professional life,” the mayor said, according to a video posted by a local reporter on social media.”It’s just something that never took place.”
The woman’s attorney could not be reached for comment by USA Today.
The allegations have surfaced as Adams has said he’s “fully cooperating” with a federal investigation into alleged foreign influence into his 2021 election campaign. Federal prosecutors and the FBI have reportedly been investigating whether the mayor’s 2021 election campaign took illegal foreign donations from the Turkish government, and the FBI raided the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, Adams’ campaign consultant and top fundraiser, on November 2.
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