Sunny Hostin Asks Eric Adams If He's Angling For A Trump Pardon

Adams was indicted in September amid allegations that he accepted luxury travel and campaign contributions from a Turkish official, as well as improperly accumulating $10 million in public funds over nearly a decade.

Adams has pleaded not guilty to the corruption charges and is helping his attorneys prepare for his trial in April.

But some insiders think he may also be pursuing a slightly different kind of legal strategy: refraining from criticizing Trump in hopes of getting a pardon if needed.

Adams has also indicated his willingness to work with Trump on fixing what he says is a broken immigration system. “I believe we can be helpful,” he told reporters on Tuesday, because “no one has gone through” what his own administration faced in the last two years with more than 200,000 migrants coming to New York.

On Friday’s broadcast of “The View,” co-host Sunny Hostin directly asked the mayor if that was his game.

“You continue to run the city. But critics are suggesting that you have recently embraced Trump, perhaps because you want either the charges dropped or perhaps a pardon from President-elect Trump,” Hostin, a former prosecutor, told Adams. “What’s your response to those critics?”

Adams responded by proclaiming his innocence, and didn’t mention Trump at all.

“I’ve said it over and over again. I did nothing wrong. I spent 40 years of my life, 22 of them as a police officer, protecting the children and families of this city. I’m consistent of that,” he said. “I live my life the way I expect everyday New Yorkers are supposed to live their life. I have a legal team. They’re going to manage that case.”

Adams said that his job is still to “make sure crime goes down in the city, record number of housing that’s built in the city, turn around our economy, and make sure as you leave this place that you could enjoy the safety of the city.” He claimed he has ”lived up to that.”

If Adams is convicted next year, he could face up to 45 years in prison.