Ex-NYPD commissioner accuses NYC mayor of ‘character assassination’ in $10 million defamation claim

NEW YORK (AP) – New York City’s former interim police commissioner has filed a $10 million defamation claim against Mayor Eric Adams for reportedly suggesting he was mentally unfit for the job of top cop.

The filing comes less than a week after the ex-commissioner, Thomas Donlon, sued Adams and his top deputies, accusing them of operating the department as a criminal racket that rewarded unqualified loyalists and punished whistleblowers. Donlon said he was sidelined for trying to clean up the corruption.

After that lawsuit was filed, Adams privately told members of a nonprofit business advocacy group at a meeting that he’d fired Donlon, 71, from his brief stint as commissioner last fall because he was “rapidly deteriorating mentally,” according to attendees. Donlon cited news reports about those comments in his legal claim.

The department’s former top spokesperson, Tarik Sheppard, who was also named in Donlon’s lawsuit, told reporters that his former boss was “going through some cognitive issues” and believed “there was this conspiracy against him.”

Their comments amounted to a defamatory “public character assassination” intended to “weaponize mental health to silence a whistleblower,” Donlon’s attorney, John Scola, said Monday.

Donlon, a former FBI official, was appointed by Adams in September to lead a department reeling from overlapping federal investigations and high-level resignations.

He was replaced by the current commissioner, Jessica Tisch, in November. During his short tenure, federal authorities searched Donlon’s home for decades-old documents that he said were unrelated to his work at the department. He has not been publicly accused of wrongdoing in connection with that search.

In his short time as commissioner, Donlon said he uncovered “systemic corruption” by members of the mayor’s inner circle, including a scheme to reward unqualified loyalists with lucrative promotions in exchange for political favors.

In his lawsuit, Donlon accused Sheppard of misappropriating the commissioner’s rubber stamp signature to give himself a raise, then threatening to kill Donlon when confronted about it.

Sheppard, who left the department in May, has denied that allegation. Inquiries to City Hall about the defamation claim were not immediately returned.

In a statement last week, a spokesperson for Adams, Kayla Mamelak Altus, described Donlon’s claims as “absurd.”

“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,” she said.

The defamation claim adds to a recent spate of litigation brought by police officals against Adams, focusing scrutiny on his leadership as he seeks re-election on a platform emphasizing managerial competence and public safety.

Earlier this month, four high-ranking former NYPD officials brought separate lawsuits accusing Adams and his deputies of allowing rampant corruption and cronyism within the police department.

In response to those suits, a spokesperson for Adams said the administration “holds all city employees – including leadership at the NYPD – to the highest standards.”