NEW YORK (AP) — 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.”
In a motion filed Monday, the mayor’s 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.
Rather, defense attorneys wrote, Adams was simply helping an important foreign nation cut through the city’s red tape.
According to the indictment, Adams sent three messages to the fire commissioner in September 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.
Those messages came after Adams had accepted flight upgrades and luxury hotel stays worth tens of thousands of dollars, 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 but had already won the mayoral primary and was widely expected to become mayor.
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 for a conference.
