Mayor Eric Adams is a \u201cmorally corrupt\u201d leader who appointed a band of \u201cclowns\u201d\u00a0to run\u00a0the NYPD\u00a0and should have no place in City Hall now or in the future, former top cop Tom Donlon fumed to The Post Thursday.<\/p>\n
Donlon \u2014 in his first sit-down since filing a\u00a0bombshell lawsuit alleging a massive criminal operation<\/a>\u00a0running out of One Police Plaza \u2014 ripped Hizzoner as \u201cfeckless,\u201d pointing to the disorder he witnessed at the highest rungs of the NYPD during his two-month stint as interim commissioner.<\/p>\n \u201cThe way he handles the city, I would say that he\u2019s morally corrupt,\u201d Donlon said during the wide-ranging, nearly hour-long conversation.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Former NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon ripped Mayor Eric Adams as a \u201cmorally corrupt\u201d leader who appointed a band of \u201cclowns\u201d to run his police department. Stephen Yang<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2019s morally qualified\u201d to hold office, Donlon said \u2014 adding that the mayor should \u201cabsolutely\u201d not be seeking re-election.<\/p>\n The ex-FBI bigwig \u2014 who was appointed in September 2024 to rebuild the NYPD\u2019s image after Commissioner Edward Caban was forced to resign\u00a0while under federal scrutiny \u2014 said he was saddled with a cadre of top police officials who\u00a0ignored simple orders or whined to Adams\u00a0behind his back, while the mayor just disregarded him.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s leaderless and feckless. He\u2019s not structured,\u201d Donlon said. \u201cThose guys I dealt with in the PD, they weren\u2019t structured.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Donlon filed a blockbuster,\u00a0251-page lawsuit Wednesday against Adams and his cop cronies, accusing them of running the NYPD like the mob \u2014 and calling for a federal takeover of the largest police department in the country.<\/p>\n The sensational suit comes as Adams fights for a second term\u00a0\u2014 and the mayor was standing on the\u00a0steps of City Hall receiving the endorsement of more than a dozen law enforcement unions when Donlon was condemning his\u00a0competence and character.<\/p>\n Donlon was transferred to the mayor\u2019s Office of Public Safety after Adams in November appointed Jessica Tisch to serve as his fourth NYPD commissioner \u2014 and she\u00a0has since been applauded for working to clean house.<\/p>\n Adams should \u201cabsolutely\u201d not be seeking re-election, Donlon told the Post. Gregory P. Mango<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact is she was given a lot more power than I had,\u201d Donlon said Thursday.<\/p>\n He defended the lawsuit\u2019s timing, contending he had always planned to expose the alleged corruption.\u00a0<\/p>\n But he said his timeline was moved up when the\u00a0Adams\u00a0administration showed him the door this spring, after his wife \u2013 who was arrested following a fender bender in what Donlon claims was retaliation by his NYPD enemies \u2013 filed her own lawsuit against the city.<\/p>\n If anything, Donlon contended Adams and his cronies should have had the foresight to not fire him before the election.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t look five steps ahead,\u201d Donlon said. \u201cIf he was smart, he would have left me there and just shut his mouth and just continue on with his election.\u201d<\/p>\n The former commissioner filed a 231-page lawsuit Wednesday against Adams and a team of the mayor\u2019s police cronies, accusing them of running the NYPD like the mob. Stephen Yang<\/p>\n Donlon\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Adams allegedly turned a blind eye to his friends\u2019 misdeeds\u00a0\u2013 and even told Donlon to \u201cback off these guys\u201d during the commish\u2019s first day, the suit claims.<\/p>\n \u201cHe couldn\u2019t care less, he wouldn\u2019t say a word,\u201d Donlon told The Post of Adams.<\/p>\n The sprawling lawsuit paints a scathing portrait of the NYPD\u2019s 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 \u2013 all of whom were close to Adams.<\/p>\n Donlon allegedly caught the cabal and their allies using his commissioner\u2019s stamp to promote politically connected officers and wrongfully doling out overtime as rewards for loyalty.<\/p>\n \u201cKaz was a loose cannon, Chell was a loose cannon too. Maddrey was walking around trying to cut a deal for himself,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI knew these clowns that I was working with didn\u2019t like the feds, and they wanted to operate in their own world,\u201d Donlon said of the leadership team. \u201cActually, they\u2019re embarrassing themselves and the mayor doesn\u2019t even understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tKeep up with today\u2019s most important news\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tStay up on the very latest with Evening Update.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \u201cIt was done to embarrass me, make me look foolish,\u201d Donlon said.<\/p>\n As the meeting wrapped, the ex-top cop said he overheard Sheppard snarkily say, \u201cLook at him, he doesn\u2019t even know where to sit.\u201d<\/p>\n Neither Sheppard, nor the other current or former police officials named in the suit have commented on the claims.<\/p>\n City Hall Press Secretary Kayla Mamelak attacked Donlon as a \u201cdisgruntled former employee\u201d who was an \u201cineffective\u201d leader.<\/p>\n \u201cTom 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,\u201d she said Thursday.<\/p>\n Donlon alleges that former deputy commissioner Tarik Sheppard sprung a last minute event on him in an attempt to embarrass Tom. James Messerschmidt<\/p>\n The attempted character assassination contrasted wildly with the praise Adams and City Hall officials heaped on Donlon when he took over the NYPD \u2013 and even after the feds raided Donlon\u2019s home in a\u00a0search for decades-old classified documents<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n Rather than throw Donlon under the bus, city officials trotted out Joseph Pistone, the legendary FBI agent known as \u201cDonnie Brasco\u201d who infiltrated the Mafia in the 1970s and 1980s, to attest to his character.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t have enough good things to say about the guy,\u201d Pistone said at the time.<\/p>\n Adams, after the lawsuit was filed, painted Donlon as a disgruntled employee in public comments.<\/p>\n Police officials past and present also badmouthed Donlon, trying to portray him as a doddering old man out of his depth.<\/p>\n