NEW YORK CITY—A hearing was held on Nov. 20 by the Committee on Rules, Privileges, and Elections to determine whether New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s new nomination for corporation counsel, Muriel Goode-Trufant, is fit for the position.
“It is our duty to critically examine appointees, their character, their qualifications, and their record so that we can ensure we have the best person to offer,” Speaker Adrienne Adams said in explaining the purpose of the hearing.
The corporation counsel of New York City is the chief legal officer who handles civil claims against the city. This includes defending the city when it’s sued and settling civil litigations.
The committee was presented with Goode-Trufant’s law experience. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Temple University of Law, has been a public servant for more than 30 years, and has been in the position of acting corporate counsel since her predecessor’s resignation in June.
The committee questioned her on her previous decisions and her opinion on legal issues.
Mayor Adams was the center of many of the questions. The speaker asked Goode-Trufant if she believed that his use of executive and emergency powers in the past six months “usurped legislative power.”
Goode-Trufant said his actions were lawful.
In reference to when New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani in 1999 defunded a museum that was exhibiting pornographic art, Speaker Adams asked, “If Mayor Adams decided to withhold funding for an organization based on his opposition to the political opinions as executive director of all the top lawyers of all the other non-mayoral entities that make up the government raise First Amendment concerns, would you defend the mayor’s decision?”
Goode-Trufant responded: “I think that the corporation counsel’s obligation is to make certain that we are serving justice and following the rule of law, and so I support the First Amendment in that situation.”
Mayor Adams’s previous nomination for the position, Brandon Mastro, was withdrawn due to Mastro’s unpopularity among the 51 members of the council who needed to approve his appointment.
