Mayor Adams’s ongoing legal drama took center stage at Wednesday’s congressional hearing with mayors of so-called “sanctuary cities,” with Republicans praising the mayor as “outstanding” and Democrats saying the deal is an example of lawlessness in the executive branch and corruption on the part of the mayor.

Mr. Adams sat stone-faced, dodging questions about the alleged “quid pro quo” and refusing answer questions about his conversations with the administration. 

Mr. Adams testified on Wednesday about his city’s policies to protect migrants from the administration’s mass deportation operations. Other leaders — including the mayors of Chicago, Boston, and Denver — were also being grilled by the Republican-led House Oversight Committee, though it was clear from the start that Mr. Adams was the favorite of the GOP. 

“I’m very pleased today to welcome our outstanding witness panel — the mayors of four major American cities. First, we have Mayor Eric Adams, who’s the outstanding mayor of New York City,” the committee’s chairman, Congressman James Comer, said in introducing Mr. Adams. 

He then introduced the mayor from Colorado, though he did not win any positive adjectives from the chairman. “We have Mayor Mike Johnston, the mayor of the city and county of Denver,” Mr. Comer said, before turning the microphone over to Democratic committee members from Illinois and Massachusetts to introduce the mayors of Chicago and Boston. 

In his opening statement, the committee’s top Democrat, Congressman Gerry Connolly, took aim squarely at Mr. Adams to criticize the Trump administration’s deportation policies. Mr. Connolly claimed that the only reason Mr. Adams is doing anything to help the president execute these deportations is so he can stay out of prison. 

“In America, we uphold the rule of law, independent from partisan politics, without fear or favor. Betraying those convictions, President Trump’s Department of Justice has tried to force the conditional dismissal of very serious charges against one of our witnesses here today in exchange for that witness’s total and complete submission to the radical immigration agenda being propounded by the administration,” Mr. Connolly said of Mr. Adams, without using his name. “The DOJ has done so over the objections of a Republican acting U.S. attorney who President Trump appointed.”

“Rather than enabling a flagrant, corrupt quid pro quo, seven federal prosecutors — seven! — including Republicans, resigned,” the ranking member declared. 

Another Democrat, Congressman Suhas Subramanyam from northern Virginia, asked Mr. Adams multiple times about his relationship with members of the Trump administration. Mr. Subramanyam asked point-blank if the New York mayor had discussed his case with members of the executive branch, including the president himself. 

“Have you ever talked about your case in the DOJ with the president?” the congressman asked. As Mr. Subramanyam was speaking, a man sitting behind Mr. Adams leaned forward to whisper something in the mayor’s ear. 

“As I’ve indicated previously … this case is in front of Judge Ho, and out of deference to him—” the mayor said before being cut off. Mr. Subramanyam asked again if Mr. Adams had discussed the case with any members of the Trump staff, leading the mayor to deliver the same answer about not commenting. 

“I’m gonna ask one more time. Have you ever talked about this case with anyone in the Trump administration?” the congressman asked once again. Mr. Adams dodged for a third time, deferring to the judge. 

“Are you selling out New Yorkers to save yourself from prosecution?” Congressman Robert Garcia, another Democrat, asked later in the hearing. 

“There’s no deal, no quid pro quo, and I did nothing wrong,” Mr. Adams said in a monotone voice. 

“I personally agree with a majority of New Yorkers and think, Mr. Mayor, that you should resign. You should do the right thing. You should step down and resign today,” Mr. Garcia said, criticizing the mayor’s relationship with border tsar Tom Homan. 

The most damning moment may have come from a fellow city resident, however — Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has called for Mr. Adams to resign multiple times. During her questioning, she referenced the reported meeting between Mr. Adams’s lawyers and Department of Justice officials who had sought to have the charges against him dismissed without prejudice — a move that led federal prosecutors to resign. 

“Were you aware of the meeting?” Ms. Ocasio-Cortez asked. When he again deferred to the judge, Ms. Ocasio-Cortez shot back, “That is not an answer, Mayor Adams.” She claimed that it is only permissible in congressional hearings to avoid direct answers if the witness chooses to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights — something Mr. Adams did not do. 

“In this meeting, did anyone representing you … agree or allude to any arrangement with the Trump administration that would involve changing city policies in exchange [for] reconsideration of the charges brought against you?” the congresswoman asked. 

“There was never any agreement, never any quid pro quo,” the mayor responded.