Ex-top cop Donlon’s lawyer urges Trump Justice Department to take over NYPD, citing alleged ‘corruption’

The lawyer for former interim Police Commissioner Thomas Donlon dispatched a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi demanding that Trump’s Justice Department take over the NYPD, citing an alleged conspiracy inside the department amid an ongoing legal battle.

The letter dated Sept. 9, sent from Law Office of John A. Scola, addresses Bondi directly and refers to a list of top police brass — including Mayor Eric Adams, current Chief of Department John Chell, former Chief of Department Jeffery Maddrey, Deputy Mayor of Public Safety Kaz Daughtry, former Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard, and more. The document suggests that the country’s largest police force is riddled with corruption and criminal conspiracy and needs to be seized by the federal government in order to “restore integrity.”

This comes after Donlon’s attorneys filed a July 16 lawsuit against the NYPD and city, claiming that under Mayor Adams, the department has become “criminal to its core.” The suit raised numerous accusations against officials running the department, including acts of retaliation that saw the arrest of Donlon’s wife. Since the claims were made, his lawyer asserted, no follow-up investigation has been made.

US Attorney General Pam BondiREUTERS/Craig Hudson/File Photo

“Since the filing of Donlon’s federal complaint on July 16, 2025, not a single law enforcement agency has contacted him or his counsel. That silence signals complicity from NYPD leadership, which has chosen to protect itself rather than confront criminal misconduct in its own ranks. By refusing even to open an inquiry into credible allegations of forgery, fraud, and racketeering, the nation’s largest police force has shown it is actively shielding its leadership and preserving a corrupt system from scrutiny,” Scola said in a statement. “To date, neither counsel nor Commissioner Donlon has been contacted. This refusal to act confirms that Internal Affairs and the NYPD’s oversight mechanisms serve as a shield for leadership, not as investigative bodies.”

Pushback against Donlon from the NYPD

In the days following the initial lawsuit, those named in the suit pushed back. Former Deputy Commissioner Sheppard told amNewYork that he believed the motivations of the suit to be timed with the mayor’s reelection bid and criticized Donlon as suffering from memory issues and being a poor leader.

“He was a man who was going through some cognitive issues with his memory, he sort of believed that there was this conspiracy against him, and I thought he was suffering some kind of disorder, I honestly did,” Sheppard said. “He couldn’t remember things, he was constantly like, almost in a fog, you know. … The executive staff knew that he was not equipped to be police commissioner.”

Other police sources also indicated that they believed Donlon is disgruntled with not being made permanent police commissioner and instead being replaced by current top cop Jessica Tisch.

Meanwhile, Donlon’s legal team argued that a federal takeover of the NYPD would “protect” New Yorkers from corruption.

“This leaves only one path forward — the appointment of a federal monitor with sweeping authority, coupled with a comprehensive criminal investigation into NYPD’s leadership and immediate DOJ action to secure the forged records and related communications before they can be altered or destroyed,” Scola said.

Mayor Eric Adams’ press secretary Kayla Mamelak Altus called the letter “baseless” while championing the department and dubbing Donlon a poor leader.

“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 some of our most violent crimes at the lowest level in recorded history. It is despicable that anyone would lie about the incredible work of the NYPD and jeopardize the safety of every New Yorker just to serve their cheap efforts at financial gain,”Mamelak Altus said. “This letter also further validates what we have been saying all along: Mr. Donlon was rightfully removed from the role of interim police commissioner, and these are nothing more than 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 comes amidst outrage over Trump’s troop occupation of Washington, DC and the threat of militarization in other cities such as Chicago and New York. Tisch recently said she was “revolted” by the idea.”

“As a lifelong New Yorker, I am revolted by the idea of the militarization of our streets,” Tisch said on Sept. 8. “As long as I have the honor of serving as the Police Commissioner of the city of New York, I will be very clear with anyone, with all of you, with the Attorney General, with whoever wants to talk to me about it, about the fact that the NYPD: We’ve got this, we don’t need, or want the federal government’s help here in that way.”

amNewYork reached out to the NYPD for comment on Donlon’s letter, and is awaiting a response.