Latest news with #TomDonlon
CBS News
2 days ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Former interim NYPD commissioner to file another lawsuit against Mayor Adams over mental health comments
New York City's former interim police commissioner plans to sue Mayor Eric Adams and his former deputy commissioner for $10 million. Tom Donlon filed a notice of intent to sue Monday, just days after filing another lawsuit against the mayor and several of the NYPD's top brass alleging corruption. In the latest filing, Donlon accuses Adams and former Deputy Chief of Public Information Tarik Sheppard of retaliating with a "public character assassination." Donlon alleges that after the first lawsuit was filed, Adams privately told members of a nonprofit business advocacy group that he fired Donlon last fall because he was "rapidly deteriorating mentally," according to attendees. Donlon cited news reports about those comments in his legal claim. Sheppard also told reporters that his former boss was "going through some cognitive issues" and believed "there was this conspiracy against him," according to Donlon's new filing. Sheppard left the department in May. Donlon's attorney, John Scola, said Monday their comments amounted to a defamatory "public character assassination" intended to "weaponize mental health to silence a whistleblower." CBS News New York reached out to the NYPD, which referred us to City Hall. "This is yet another frivolous attempt to seek compensation at the taxpayers' expense," the mayor's office said in a statement, adding, "We will respond in court if and when the complaint is filed." Donlon became interim police commissioner in September after his predecessor, Edward Caban, resigned following a federal raid of members of the mayor's administration. He served until November, when he passed the torch to Jessica Tisch. Donlon filed his first lawsuit under the RICO act, claiming the mayor and his top staff at the NYPD are running a criminal racketeering enterprise. He called for a federal takeover of the NYPD and appointing an independent special monitor to investigate corruption in the department. That lawsuit centered around claims of unmerited promotions and an alleged coverup attempt. Donlon claims he was sidelined when he started raising questions. The suit named Adams and several of the NYPD's top brass, including Sheppard, First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella, former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, Chief of Patrol John Chell, then-Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, who's now deputy mayor for public safety, and Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters Michael Gerber. "These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who — when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world — proved himself to be ineffective. This suit is nothing more than an attempt to seek compensation at the taxpayer's expense after Mr. Donlon was rightfully removed from the role of interim police commissioner. The NYPD is led by the best, brightest, and most honorable professionals in the nation — and their results speak for themselves: crime continues to fall across the city, with shootings at the lowest level in recorded history. We will respond in court, where we are confident these absurd claims will be disproven," the Adams administration responded in a statement at the time. Earlier this month, four other former high-ranking NYPD members sued the department over accusations of fraudulent promotions.
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ex-police commissioner sues New York City and Eric Adams over alleged NYPD corruption
A former New York police commissioner is suing the city, Eric Adams, the mayor, and top police officials, accusing them of a 'coordinated criminal enterprise that had taken root at the highest levels of city government'. Tom Donlon, who served for two months last year as New York's top cop, filed the 251-page claim in federal court on Wednesday. In it, among other explosive claims, he says he attempted to establish internal oversight into corruption at the NYPD, and 'uncovered systemic corruption and criminal conduct being perpetrated by the NYPD's leadership', but after he warned Adams he was sidelined. He also claimed that the police department falsely arrested his wife in a 'coordinated humiliation' and then leaked the arrest to the press. 'This lawsuit is not a personal grievance; it is a statement against a corrupt system that betrays the public, silences truth, and punishes integrity,' Donlon said in a statement emailed to the Guardian. Four others lawsuits were filed by former top police officials last week, which made similar claims about Adams's involvement in NYPD corruption. Donlon resigned in 2024 just weeks after taking the job, after his home was searched by federal agents in a separate investigation. A career FBI counter-terror expert who investigated the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Donlon also served for a time as New York's director of office of homeland security, and then CEO of a private security firm, before he was tapped to lead the NYPD in September 2024. In his brief tenure, Donlon now claims that he discovered Adams and NYPD officials were involved in a wide variety of illegal behavior, including 'wire fraud, mail fraud, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and retaliation against whistleblowers' and 'engaged in outright malfeasance by using the NYPD to consolidate political power, obstruct justice, and punish dissent'. A City Hall spokesperson, Kayla Mamelak Altus, said to City & State: 'These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who – when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world – proved himself to be ineffective. We will respond in court, where we are confident these absurd claims will be disproven.' Donlon claims that his efforts to establish internal NYPD oversight were 'sabotaged'. He gives examples including that his meetings were cancelled, his communications were spied on, he was excluded from decision making, and alleges that his official police commissioner's stamp was used to forge internal documents. The alleged corruption, Donlon claims, was used to promote unqualified, politically connected cops and 'triggered a massive, unlawful transfer of public wealth – millions of dollars in unearned salary increases, overtime eligibility, pension enhancements, and post-retirement benefits'. Donlon says that after he warned Adams of his findings he was sidelined. His wife, he claims, was placed under false arrest and subjected to a full-body and personal effects search. After she was released, a reporter from the New York Post called him for comment – 'a media leak that could only have come from inside the NYPD', the lawsuit claims. Donlon's allegations come as Adams is mounting a campaign as an independent candidate to retain his position as mayor. Adams switched political parties after a series of scandals, including a since-abandoned federal corruption prosecution, and skipped the New York City mayoral Democratic primary race last month, which was won by Zohran Mamdani. Last year, Donlon briefly served as interim police commissioner after Edward Caban resigned amid a federal investigation into potential corruption in the NYPD. About two months later Donlon stepped down and was moved to the office of the deputy mayor for public safety – a job that itself came to an end in May of this year when he was pushed out. Earlier this year, four deputy mayors resigned over concerns that Adams had reached a quid pro quo with the Trump administration to get tough on illegal immigration in exchange for getting his federal corruption charges dropped. Barely a week into Donlon's tenure as NYPD police commissioner, his home was raided by the FBI, who seized classified documents that he said had come into his possession 20 years earlier. Very little information was released about the raid or the nature of the documents. 'At a certain point, we all would walk out of the movie theater because the script was just too fantastical, incredulous, and unbelievable for real-life,' Jumaane Williams, the city's public advocate, noted in a social media post at the time. The Guardian has contacted Adams's office for comment.
Fox News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Eric Adams hit with accusation of operating ‘criminal conspiracy' at NYPD
Mayor Eric Adams is being sued by a former high-ranking New York Police Department official for allegedly operating a "criminal conspiracy" at the department to enrich top officials. A spokesperson for Adams, who is running for re-election as an independent, called the allegations "baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee." Politico reported that former interim NYPD commissioner Tom Donlon filed a suit in the New York state Supreme Court in Manhattan against Adams, the department and several other current and former city officials on Wednesday. In his suit, Donlon alleged that "a coordinated criminal conspiracy had taken root at the highest levels of City government — carried out through wire fraud, mail fraud, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and retaliation against whistleblowers." According to the outlet, Donlon's allegations against New York City officials amount to racketeering. Donlon stated that "this enterprise — the NYPD — was criminal at its core." Politico also reported that Donlon said in an accompanying statement that "this lawsuit is not a personal grievance; it is a statement against a corrupt system that betrays the public, silences truth, and punishes integrity." "The goal is to drive real change, hold the corrupt, deceitful, and abusively powerful accountable, and restore the voice of every honorable officer who has been silenced or denied justice," wrote Donlon. In response, Kayla Mamelak Altus, a spokesperson for Adams, told Fox News Digital that "these are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who — when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world — proved himself to be ineffective." "This suit is nothing more than an attempt to seek compensation at the taxpayer's expense after Mr. Donlon was rightfully removed from the role of interim police commissioner," Mamelak Altus claimed. The spokesperson said Adams' office "will respond in court, where we are confident these absurd claims will be disproven." "The NYPD is led by the best, brightest, and most honorable professionals in the nation — and their results speak for themselves: crime continues to fall across the city, with shootings at the lowest level in recorded history," said Mamelak Altus. Adams is currently facing an uphill fight for re-election against Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani, a self-professed democratic socialist, as well as former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an independent, and Republican candidate and activist Curtis Sliwa.
The Guardian
16-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Ex-police commissioner sues New York City and Eric Adams over alleged NYPD corruption
A former New York police commissioner is suing the city, Eric Adams, the mayor, and top police officials, accusing them of a 'coordinated criminal enterprise that had taken root at the highest levels of city government'. Tom Donlon, who served for two months last year as New York's top cop, filed the 251-page claim in federal court on Wednesday. In it, among other explosive claims, he says he attempted to establish internal oversight into corruption at the NYPD, and 'uncovered systemic corruption and criminal conduct being perpetrated by the NYPD's leadership', but after he warned Adams he was sidelined. He also claimed that the police department falsely arrested his wife in a 'coordinated humiliation' and then leaked the arrest to the press. 'This lawsuit is not a personal grievance; it is a statement against a corrupt system that betrays the public, silences truth, and punishes integrity,' Donlon said in a statement emailed to the Guardian. Four others lawsuits were filed by former top police officials last week, which made similar claims about Adams's involvement in NYPD corruption. Donlon resigned in 2024 just weeks after taking the job, after his home was searched by federal agents in a separate investigation. A career FBI counter-terror expert who investigated the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, Donlon also served for a time as New York's director of office of homeland security, and then CEO of a private security firm, before he was tapped to lead the NYPD in September 2024. In his brief tenure, Donlon now claims that he discovered Adams and NYPD officials were involved in a wide variety of illegal behavior, including 'wire fraud, mail fraud, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and retaliation against whistleblowers' and 'engaged in outright malfeasance by using the NYPD to consolidate political power, obstruct justice, and punish dissent'. Donlon claims that his efforts to establish internal NYPD oversight were 'sabotaged'. He gives examples including that his meetings were cancelled, his communications were spied on, he was excluded from decision making, and alleges that his official police commissioner's stamp was used to forge internal documents. The alleged corruption, Donlon claims, was used to promote unqualified, politically connected cops and 'triggered a massive, unlawful transfer of public wealth – millions of dollars in unearned salary increases, overtime eligibility, pension enhancements, and post-retirement benefits'. Donlon says that after he warned Adams of his findings he was sidelined. His wife, he claims, was placed under false arrest and subjected to a full-body and personal effects search. After she was released, a reporter from the New York Post called him for comment – 'a media leak that could only have come from inside the NYPD', the lawsuit claims. Donlon's allegations come as Adams is mounting a campaign as an independent candidate to retain his position as mayor. Adams switched political parties after a series of scandals, including a since-abandoned federal corruption prosecution, and skipped the New York City mayoral democratic primary race last month, which was won by Zohran Mamdani. Last year, Donlon briefly served as interim police commissioner after Edward Caban resigned amid a federal investigation into potential corruption in the NYPD. About two months later Donlon stepped down and was moved to the office of the deputy mayor for public safety – a job that itself came to an end in May of this year when he was pushed out. Earlier this year, four deputy mayors resigned over concerns that Adams had reached a quid pro quo with the Trump administration to get tough on illegal immigration in exchange for getting his federal corruption charges dropped. Barely a week into Donlon's tenure as NYPD police commissioner, his home was raided by the FBI, who seized classified documents that he said had come into his possession 20 years earlier. Very little information was released about the raid or the nature of the documents. 'At a certain point, we all would walk out of the movie theater because the script was just too fantastical, incredulous, and unbelievable for real-life,' Jumaane Williams, the city's public advocate, noted in a social media post at the time. The Guardian has contacted Adams's office for comment.
CBS News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Former interim NYPD commissioner sues Mayor Eric Adams, top NYPD brass over alleged corruption
Former interim NYPD Commissioner Tom Donlon filed a lawsuit Wednesday claiming that New York City Mayor Eric Adams and his top staff at the NYPD are running the department as a criminal racketeering enterprise. Donlon filed the lawsuit under the RICO act, and is calling for a federal takeover of the NYPD and the appointment of an independent special monitor to take on corruption within the department. The lawsuit centers around allegations of unmerited promotions within the NYPD and an alleged attempt to cover up that process. Donlon claims he was sidelined when he started raising questions about it. The mayor's office called the lawsuit "baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who ... proved himself to be ineffective." The lawsuit alleges the police commissioner's stamp was used without authorization to forge internal documents "to promote unqualified, politically connected officers over those who had earned advancement through merit. This corruption triggered a massive, unlawful transfer of public wealth—millions of dollars in unearned salary increases, overtime eligibility, pension enhancements, and post-retirement benefits." Donlon's lawsuit names Adams and several of the NYPD's top brass, including First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella, former Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, Chief of Patrol John Chell, then-Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry, who's now deputy mayor for public safety, former Assistant Chief Tarik Sheppard and Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters Michael Gerber. "These individuals exercised unchecked power while Donlon was sidelined and used as a public relations shield," the lawsuit alleges. "Senior leadership had abandoned lawful governance, and engaged in outright malfeasance by using the NYPD to consolidate political power, obstruct justice, and punish dissent," the lawsuit alleges. "A coordinated criminal conspiracy had taken root at the highest levels of City government—carried out through wire fraud, mail fraud, honest services fraud, obstruction of justice and retaliation against whistleblowers. This enterprise—the NYPD—was criminal at its core." In the lawsuit, Donlon alleges he was commissioner "in name only," claiming his meetings were canceled, schedule altered, communications spied on, and saying he was excluded from operational decisions. "With New York City and NYPD under the control of Defendants Adams and Maddrey respectively, promotions were traded for silence. Investigations were obstructed. Dissent was punished. Accountability was buried," the lawsuit claims. The lawsuit alleges Daughtry, Sheppard and Gerber retaliated against Donlon when he started to raise concerns about promotions within the department by arranging for his wife's arrest. "Mrs. Donlon-O'Connor was handcuffed behind her back, subjected to a full body and personal-effects search at the 17th Precinct, and told ... that she would be transported to Central Booking. This coordinated humiliation was a direct warning: the NYPD Defendants would stop at nothing to silence and personally destroy Donlon, even if it meant violating the constitutional rights of his spouse," the lawsuit alleges. Just last week, four other former high-ranking NYPD members sued the department over accusations of fraudulent promotions. The police union is also fighting to keep 30 officers on the job after the department said they lied about their backgrounds on applications. "These are baseless accusations from a disgruntled former employee who — when given the opportunity to lead the greatest police department in the world — proved himself to be ineffective. This suit is nothing more than an attempt to seek compensation at the taxpayer's expense after Mr. Donlon was rightfully removed from the role of interim police commissioner. The NYPD is led by the best, brightest, and most honorable professionals in the nation — and their results speak for themselves: crime continues to fall across the city, with shootings at the lowest level in recorded history. We will respond in court, where we are confident these absurd claims will be disproven," the Adams administration responded in a statement. "This lawsuit is not a personal grievance; it is a statement against a corrupt system that betrays the public, silences truth, and punishes integrity. The goal is to drive real change, hold the corrupt, deceitful, and abusively powerful accountable, and restore the voice of every honorable officer who has been silenced or denied justice," Donlon said in a statement. Donlon became interim police commissioner in September after former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban resigned following a raid by federal agents. Donlon had previously served as New York's Director of the Office of Homeland Security at the FBI's National Threat Center, where he was responsible for the bureau's terror watch list and put together a centralized terror threat database. He also worked with the FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force. He served until November, when he was succeeded by Jessica Tisch. Donlon's appointment came during a period of intense federal scrutiny of top Adams administration officials. Bringing him in from outside of the department was a move to make sure he would not be involved in those investigations. Shortly after he took the post, however, federal agents served search warrants on several of his homes, and Donlon said federal agents "took materials that came into my possession approximately 20 years ago and are unrelated to my work with the New York City Police Department."
