Mayor Eric Adams is a “morally corrupt” leader who appointed a band of “clowns” to run the NYPD and should have no place in City Hall now or in the future, former top cop Tom Donlon fumed to The Post Thursday.
Donlon — in his first sit-down since filing a bombshell lawsuit alleging a massive criminal operation running out of One Police Plaza — ripped Hizzoner as “feckless,” pointing to the disorder he witnessed at the highest rungs of the NYPD during his two-month stint as interim commissioner.
“The way he handles the city, I would say that he’s morally corrupt,” Donlon said during the wide-ranging, nearly hour-long conversation.
Former NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon ripped Mayor Eric Adams as a “morally corrupt” leader who appointed a band of “clowns” to run his police department. Stephen Yang
“I don’t think he’s morally qualified” to hold office, Donlon said — adding that the mayor should “absolutely” not be seeking re-election.
The ex-FBI bigwig — who was appointed in September 2024 to rebuild the NYPD’s image after Commissioner Edward Caban was forced to resign while under federal scrutiny — said he was saddled with a cadre of top police officials who ignored simple orders or whined to Adams behind his back, while the mayor just disregarded him.
“He’s leaderless and feckless. He’s not structured,” Donlon said. “Those guys I dealt with in the PD, they weren’t structured.”
Donlon filed a blockbuster, 251-page lawsuit Wednesday against Adams and his cop cronies, accusing them of running the NYPD like the mob — and calling for a federal takeover of the largest police department in the country.
The sensational suit comes as Adams fights for a second term — and the mayor was standing on the steps of City Hall receiving the endorsement of more than a dozen law enforcement unions when Donlon was condemning his competence and character.
Donlon was transferred to the mayor’s Office of Public Safety after Adams in November appointed Jessica Tisch to serve as his fourth NYPD commissioner — and she has since been applauded for working to clean house.
Adams should “absolutely” not be seeking re-election, Donlon told the Post. Gregory P. Mango
“The fact is she was given a lot more power than I had,” Donlon said Thursday.
He defended the lawsuit’s timing, contending he had always planned to expose the alleged corruption.
But he said his timeline was moved up when the Adams administration showed him the door this spring, after his wife – who was arrested following a fender bender in what Donlon claims was retaliation by his NYPD enemies – filed her own lawsuit against the city.
If anything, Donlon contended Adams and his cronies should have had the foresight to not fire him before the election.
“He doesn’t look five steps ahead,” Donlon said. “If he was smart, he would have left me there and just shut his mouth and just continue on with his election.”
The former commissioner filed a 231-page lawsuit Wednesday against Adams and a team of the mayor’s police cronies, accusing them of running the NYPD like the mob. Stephen Yang
Donlon’s suit, filed in Manhattan federal court, contends the well-regarded former FBI official was effectively commissioner-in-name-only as a cabal of corrupt top cops secretly ran the NYPD, rewarding lackeys and punishing enemies.
Adams allegedly turned a blind eye to his friends’ misdeeds – and even told Donlon to “back off these guys” during the commish’s first day, the suit claims.
“He couldn’t care less, he wouldn’t say a word,” Donlon told The Post of Adams.
The sprawling lawsuit paints a scathing portrait of the NYPD’s inner workings under former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, his successor John Chell, current Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Kaz Daughtry and former deputy commissioner in charge of public information Tarik Sheppard – all of whom were close to Adams.
Donlon allegedly caught the cabal and their allies using his commissioner’s stamp to promote politically connected officers and wrongfully doling out overtime as rewards for loyalty.
“Kaz was a loose cannon, Chell was a loose cannon too. Maddrey was walking around trying to cut a deal for himself,” he said.
“I knew these clowns that I was working with didn’t like the feds, and they wanted to operate in their own world,” Donlon said of the leadership team. “Actually, they’re embarrassing themselves and the mayor doesn’t even understand that.”
Donlon recalled being made to look like a buffoon during an informal promotion ceremony when Sheppard, who is no longer with the NYPD, sprung the event on him seconds before and refused to give him any details of the meeting.
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“It was done to embarrass me, make me look foolish,” Donlon said.
As the meeting wrapped, the ex-top cop said he overheard Sheppard snarkily say, “Look at him, he doesn’t even know where to sit.”
Neither Sheppard, nor the other current or former police officials named in the suit have commented on the claims.
City Hall Press Secretary Kayla Mamelak attacked Donlon as a “disgruntled former employee” who was an “ineffective” leader.
“Tom Donlon should have put in as much effort serving the people of New York City as interim police commissioner as he did putting together this baseless lawsuit,” she said Thursday.
Donlon alleges that former deputy commissioner Tarik Sheppard sprung a last minute event on him in an attempt to embarrass Tom. James Messerschmidt
The attempted character assassination contrasted wildly with the praise Adams and City Hall officials heaped on Donlon when he took over the NYPD – and even after the feds raided Donlon’s home in a search for decades-old classified documents.
Rather than throw Donlon under the bus, city officials trotted out Joseph Pistone, the legendary FBI agent known as “Donnie Brasco” who infiltrated the Mafia in the 1970s and 1980s, to attest to his character.
“I don’t have enough good things to say about the guy,” Pistone said at the time.
Adams, after the lawsuit was filed, painted Donlon as a disgruntled employee in public comments.
Police officials past and present also badmouthed Donlon, trying to portray him as a doddering old man out of his depth.
“Yes, he was showing many signs of cognitive issues that he wasn’t up to the task of being police commissioner,” Sheppard claimed on Pix11 Wednesday evening.
Donlon, who showed no signs of mental decline in his interview with The Post, shot back at the claim, calling it “bulls—t.”
His attorney, John Scola, added: “The NYPD and City Hall keep calling Commissioner Donlon’s complaint ‘baseless,’ yet they refuse to address the detailed allegations—rampant fraud, meritless promotions, death threats, and obstruction of justice. Instead of attacking whistleblowers, the City should be cleaning its own house.”