NEW YORK (AP) — A former top New York City police official admitted through his lawyer Friday that he had a “consensual, adult relationship” with a subordinate, but denied her claims that he demanded sex in exchange for extra pay.
Jeffrey Maddrey stood silently as his lawyer, Lambros Lambrou, addressed allegations that culminated in resignation a week ago as chief of department, the NYPD's highest-ranking uniformed officer.
Lambrou, speaking to reporters at his Manhattan law office, said that the 33-year NYPD veteran's relationship with Lt. Quathisha Epps lasted only a “short time.” The lawyer said Maddrey had no authority to sign off on overtime pay.
“Lt. Epps got caught with her hand in the cookie jar and is trying to deflect her wrongdoing by making these allegations against Chief Maddrey,” Lambrou said.
The lawyer claimed to have text messages, phone records and “racy videos and photographs” that he said Epps sent to Maddrey “to have him begin a relationship with her.”
Epps raised allegations against Maddrey last weekend in a complaint she filed against the city with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
In it, she claimed Maddrey engaged in “quid pro quo sexual harassment” by coercing her to “perform unwanted sexual favors in exchange for overtime opportunities in the workplace.”
Epps, who held an administrative post in Maddrey’s office, was the NYPD's top earner in fiscal year 2024, according to payroll data, pulling in more than $400,000. More than half of it was overtime pay.
Epps contends that when she finally pushed back at Maddrey’s demands, he retaliated by claiming she was abusing overtime, prompting the department to launch a review. Lambrou said Friday that the timing didn't add up because Epps was already under investigation before she filed her complaint.
Epps’ lawyer, Eric Sanders, said Lambrou’s admission that Maddrey had a sexual relationship with Epps undercut a previous statement denying “every aspect” of the allegations.
“We have a treasure trove of digital data that will hopefully bring this degenerate to justice,” Sanders said.
Maddrey, a close ally of mayor and former police captain Eric Adams, joined the NYPD in 1991 and rose through the ranks to become chief of patrol in 2021.
Last year, Maddrey was promoted to chief of department despite a history of internal disciplinary issues, including an allegation that he lied to investigators about an affair with another subordinate.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch accepted Maddrey's resignation on Dec. 20, effective immediately. She appointed John Chell, the former chief of patrol, to the position on an interim basis.
The NYPD has declined to comment on the allegations against Maddrey other than to say it “takes all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously and will thoroughly investigate this matter.”
Maddrey’s resignation follows months of scandal and leadership turnover at the NYPD, the nation’s largest police department. In September, Commissioner Edward Caban resigned after federal agents searched his home as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into members of Adams’ inner circle.
Soon after, Timothy Pearson, another Adams adviser with wide latitude over the NYPD, resigned after investigators seized devices and cash from his home. He has also been accused of sexual harassment by multiple colleagues.
Neither Pearson nor Caban have been criminally charged, and both have denied wrongdoing.
Attorney Lambros Lambrou, points at a board during a press conference as former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey stands on the right, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Former NYPD Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, right, and attorney Lambros Lambrou, center, attend a press conference, Friday, Dec. 27, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.
Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.
Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”
Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”
Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.
“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”
He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”
Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.
More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.
With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.
Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.
In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.
Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”
Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.
“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.
The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.
The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.
Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.
In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)
In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)
