NYC Mayor Adams' aides doctored a photo of fallen police officer to back up false story, report

Aides to New York City Mayor Eric Adams reportedly doctored a photo of his fallen police officer friend who died in the line of duty. 

According to a report from The New York Times, aides to the mayor distressed the print-out photo in order to make it look old and worn out. 

Adams had mentioned in previous interviews that he carried a picture of Officer Robert Venable, who died in 1987 while responding to a domestic disturbance in Harlem.

“I still think about Robert,” Adams, who was a former police captain, said at a news conference last year. “I keep a picture of Robert in my wallet.”

Shortly after the news conference, Adams produced the wallet-sized photo for The New York Times after they requested it for a story. 

According to a recent report from the outlet, aides in the office were instructed to create a photo of Venable shortly after Adams first mentioned carrying it. They allegedly used a picture of the officer that was found on Google. 

A source told the Times that they printed the photo in black and white and poured coffee on it to make it look older and worn out. Two former City Hall aides reportedly confirmed the creation of the photo.

A spokesperson for Adams said that The New York Times is participating in "a campaign to paint the mayor as a liar.”