Homan denies quid pro quo with Mayor Adams to drop charges in exchange for migrant concessions: ‘Ridiculous’

Border czar Tom Homan denied Sunday that the Justice Department dropped charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for Hizzoner letting immigration agents onto Rikers Island.

“I think that’s ridiculous,” Homan told CNN’s “State of the Union” when asked about speculation that it was a quid pro quo.

Justice officials last week ordered Manhattan federal prosecutors to drop the five-count bribery indictment against Adams, 64, saying the raps were politically motivated, although leaving the door open for him to be recharged.

Days later, Adams vowed to reopen the shuttered US Immigration and Customs Enforcement office on Rikers Island after a meeting with Homan, 63, on Thursday.

“Me and Mayor Adams met a couple of months ago. …We had the same discussion — we talked about getting a presence in Rikers Island,” Homan said.

“We had that a couple [of] months ago, long before this other discussion.”

The Post previously reported that Hizzoner floated reopening the facility during his meeting with Homan in December. The office had been shut down for more than a decade ago thanks to a 2014 “sanctuary city” law signed by then-Mayor Bill de Blasio that limited how much local law enforcement can work with federal immigration officials.

Democrats have howled over the sequence of recent events involving Homan, the Justice Department and Adams.

Democratic New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has come under pressure to invoke her power to remove the mayor from office, with critics saying he is now beholden to the Trump administration. She hasn’t ruled anything out, telling MSNBC last week that she can’t “knee-jerk, politically motivated reaction” to the ordeal.

Hizzoner has long alleged that the indictment against him in September was politically motivated and claimed that his criticism of the Biden administration’s border policies may have been a factor in the case being brought against him.

Adams could have faced up to 45 years behind bars if convicted of the charges, which involved him allegedly taking $123,000 worth of bribes including for travel upgrades while in office.

Prosecutors also alleged that Adams fraudulently raked in $10 million in public campaign funds.

Acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon resigned last week because of the President-Trump-led Justice Department’s directive to her to scrap the charges against Hizzoner.

Sassoon, a former clerk for late ex-Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, wrote a blistering letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi grousing that the instruction had “nothing to do with the strength of the case” and violated her mandate to “prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor.”

Sassoon’s role was intended to be temporary, as Trump has tapped former Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Jay Clayton to serve as the full-fledged attorney for the Southern District of New York if confirmed by the Senate.

On Friday, the feds filed a motion to dismiss Adams’ case without prejudice, which means that the indictment against Hizzoner could be revived. A federal judge must green-light the motion in order for it to go through.

Homan and Adams sat for a joint interview on “Fox & Friends” on Friday that raised eyebrows among critics about their working relationship.

“If he doesn’t come through, I’ll be back in New York City, and we won’t be sitting on the couch, I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, ‘Where the hell is this agreement we came to?’ ” Homan said while sitting next to the mayor.

But the border czar Sunday dismissed conjecture that he was alluding to some sort of reciprocal agreement pertaining to Hizzoner’s bribery indictment.

“This is two cops talking,” Homan told CNN. “That was a joke, and if you play the tape further, he laughs and immediately responds, ‘I will hold you accountable.’

“This is a conversation between two cops having a good time, and people are making a lot out of nothing.”

Adams is a former NYPD police officer, and Homan was previously a cop in West Carthage, NY.

At one point Sunday, CNN host Dana Bash asked Homan that if Adams “does not do what you want him to do, would you be OK with the DOJ reopening its investigation into him.

“I’m a border czar, I care about the border,” Homan replied. “Let the DOJ do what they do. I care about removing public safety threats from the country.”

The mayor’s office did not respond to a Post request for comment.

Homan also Sunday defended his statement to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham last week that he is “working with the Department of Justice” to find out whether Rep. Alexandria-Ocasio Cortez (D-NY) violated the law by hosting a webinar discussing people’s rights when it comes to ICE.

“I’ve done this since 1984,” he said of immigration enforcement. “I’ve forgotten more about immigration law than AOC will ever know.”