So, blame Adams for rumor about James replacing Thompson? Or not.

So, did he or didn't he?

First, Stephen Witt's Kings County Politics suggested, with no named sources, that there was a push for Public Advocate Letitia James--who has worked as a public defender but not a prosecutor--to be named as the appointed successor for Kings County District Attorney Kenneth Thompson, who died recently. Then the New York Post picked it up.

In City and State, well sourced Gerson Borrero quoted "numerous insiders" as blaming Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for the story, since James's departure from her post could leave it open to him and thus gain a citywide profile for his long-professed mayoral ambitions. (Though he didn't query Adams.)

Well, Gov. Andrew Cuomo left Thompson's deputy, Eric Gonzalez, in charge, and City and State soon reported Adams's denial:

“Borough President Adams refutes this depiction of him, one that is based in gossip, much less under the cover of nameless and faceless claims that stand in opposition to the high value of public service that defined his friend and colleague Ken Thompson’s career and legacy,” Stefan Ringel, a spokesman for Adams, said in a statement. 

So, we just don't know. But it's understandable that the untimely death of someone powerful fuels not just mourning but machination.