Attorneys for New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged a federal judge Monday to dismiss the bribery charge brought last week, accusing “zealous prosecutors” of leveling an “extraordinarily vague allegation” that does not rise to the level of a federal crime.
Adams, a Democrat, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he accepted lavish travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals in exchange for political favors that included pushing through the opening of a Turkish consulate building.
He has vowed to continue serving as mayor while fighting the charges “with every ounce of my strength and my spirit.” Adams has suggested — without providing evidence — that the charges are politically motivated.
"I’ve done nothing wrong. Time will prove that," the mayor said.
In a motion filed Monday, defense attorneys described the bribery charge — one of five counts he faces — as meritless, arguing that “zealous prosecutors” had failed to show an explicit quid pro quo between Adams and Turkish officials.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
Rather, defense attorneys wrote, Adams was simply helping an important foreign nation cut through the city's red tape.
“Congressmen get upgrades, they get corner suites, they get better tables at restaurants, they get free appetizers, they have their iced tea filled up,” his attorney, Alex Spiro, said at a combative news conference. “Courtesies to politicians are not federal crimes.”
While not disputing that Adams accepted flight upgrades, Spiro said his client had never promised to take action on behalf of the Turkish government in exchange for the perks, which prosecutors say were worth more than $100,000.
“There was no quid pro quo. There was no this for that,” Spiro said.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, whose office brought the case, has said that politics played no role. At a news conference on an unrelated topic Monday, Williams declined to comment on Spiro's remarks, saying prosecutors would speak through its court filings going forward.
According to the indictment, Adams sent three messages to the fire commissioner in Sept. 2021 urging him to expedite the opening of the 36-story Manhattan consulate building, which fire safety inspectors said was not safe to occupy, ahead of an important state visit by the Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Spiro also did not dispute that Adams sent the messages to the fire commissioner.
The messages came after Adams had accepted at least seven free or deeply discounted flight upgrades, luxury hotel stays worth tens of thousands of dollars, high-end meals, entertainment and illegal foreign donations from a Turkish official and others seeking to buy his influence, according to prosecutors. Before requesting Adams' help with the consulate, the Turkish official allegedly told an Adams staffer that it was “his turn” to help Turkey.
At the time, Adams was still serving as Brooklyn borough president, a largely ceremonial position, but had already won the mayoral primary and was widely expected to become mayor.
Prosecutors said Adams did not disclose most of the free or heavily discounted trips he took while borough president, as required by city conflict-of-interest laws. At the news conference, Spiro initially said Adams was not legally obligated to disclose any of the trips or upgrades, but later acknowledged — after reporters noted city rules that gifts of more than $50 were supposed to be reported — that he was not an expert in the city’s conflict-of-interest law.
Prosecutors claimed a former Adams staffer had lied to prosecutors to make it seem like the mayor had firsthand knowledge of the illegal donations.
“Eventually New Yorkers, being New Yorkers, are going to wise up to all this,” Spiro said.
Even if the Turkish officials were seeking to curry favor with Adams, his conduct would not amount to a violation of federal bribery laws, according to defense attorneys.
“That extraordinarily vague allegation encompasses a wide array of normal and perfectly lawful acts that many City officials would undertake for the consulate of an important foreign nation,” they wrote, adding that the indictment “does not allege that Mayor Adams agreed to perform any official act at the time that he received a benefit.”
The motion points to a recent Supreme Court decision narrowing the scope of federal corruption law, which requires that gifts given to government officials be linked to a specific question or official act.
The attorneys claim the additional charges against Adams — that he solicited and accepted foreign donations and manipulated the city’s matching funds program — are “equally meritless.”
Those allegations, they wrote, would be revealed through litigation as the false claims of a “self-interested staffer with an axe to grind."
Adams is due back in court Wednesday and is expected hold his regular Tuesday news conference where the bulk of the questions may continue to be about the criminal indictment.
On top of the case against Adams, federal prosecutors are believed to be leading separate ongoing investigations into several top city officials with deep ties to the mayor. The drumbeat of searches and subpoenas in recent weeks has prompted the resignation of the city’s police commissioner and schools chancellor, along with some calls for the mayor to resign.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat who has the power to remove Adams from office, told reporters Monday that she had spoken to the mayor about “what my expectations are” but also indicated she wasn't ready to give up on his administration.
“I am giving the mayor an opportunity now to demonstrate to New Yorkers — and to me — that we are righting the ship, that we have the opportunity to instill the confidence that I think is wavering right now and to power forward with an effective government,” she said.
