Experts say it’s far from clear how would play out. The closest it’s come to happening was nearly a century ago when Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt launched a trial against Mayor Jimmy Walker, who subsequently resigned and moved to Europe to avoid criminal prosecution.

In an extraordinary courtroom showdown, a federal judge pressed the Justice Department on Wednesday on its demand to throw out New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case, grilling a top official and putting the Democratic mayor under oath to answer concerns that the Trump administration’s lifeline came with strings attached.