Mayor Eric Adams pleads not guilty in bribery case – NBC New York

New York Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty Friday to federal bribery charges, firmly rejecting allegations that he accepted overseas trips, campaign funds and other benefits from foreign interests seeking to leverage his influence.

Adams, a former police captain, made his plea in a packed courtroom just a short walk from City Hall, which has been buffeted by a cascade of investigations, searches and subpoenas in recent weeks. The first-term Democrat insists he has done nothing wrong and has pledged to stay in office, rejecting growing calls for him to resign.

“I’m not guilty, your honor,” Adams said, looking solemnly at the judge.

His appearance before U.S. Judge Katharine Parker came a day after prosecutors unsealed an indictment accusing him of taking $100,000 in flights and stays in lavish hotel suites from people with ties to Turkey, fueling his candidacy for mayor with illegal donations that helped him qualify for more than $10 million in public campaign funds.

Adams was released on the condition that he not contact any witnesses or people described in the indictment. The mayor is allowed to speak to family members and staff, but not about anything related to the allegations.

Adams left the courtroom without commenting. He smiled at a court official but ignored the lines of reporters he passed on his way out. Then he stood silently outside the courthouse as his attorney, Alex Spiro, railed against the charges to a crowd of cameras, while onlookers shouted, “Free Eric!” and “Lock him up!”

The 57-page indictment lays out the five federal charges the mayor faces, including wire fraud, bribery and solicitation of a contribution by an alien. Prosecutors accuse Adams of requesting and accepting luxury international travel from a wealthy businessman and at least one Turkish government official, all of which took place over the course of a decade. Adams and his attorney denied any wrongdoing. NBC New York’s Jonathan Dienst, Andrew Siff, Chris Glorioso and Melissa Colorado have team coverage.

“This isn’t even a real case. This is the corruption case in airline upgrades,” Spiro said. He said the judge would file a motion to dismiss the case next week.

But even as the mayor appeared in court, the investigation into his government continued.

One of Adams’ closest advisers at City Hall, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, was met at the airport Friday by investigators from the U.S. Department of Justice and the Manhattan district attorney’s office after departing Japan. Federal investigators have issued her a subpoena. According to her lawyer Arthur Aidala, local prosecutors took her phones and searched her home. A TV news crew caught images of investigators bringing out boxes labeled “documents” and “electronics.”

“She will cooperate fully with any investigation and Ms. Lewis is not the target of any matter of which we are aware,” Aidala said.

Adams, 64, is due back in court Wednesday for a conference before U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho, who will preside over the case going forward.

During his 18-minute appearance on Friday, Adams sat stoically with his hands folded in his lap as the magistrate judge read the charges aloud, her firm statement underscoring the seriousness of the case. He was at the courthouse for just under four hours.

The criminal case and the turmoil in Adams’ administration, including the sudden resignation of his police commissioner and the retirement of his school’s chancellor, have created a political crisis for the mayor.

Adams has so far weathered calls to resign, including from Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, potential Democratic challengers in next June’s mayoral primary, and some Republicans. Top Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries have not called on Adams to quit, saying the legal process should be allowed to play out.

Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has the power to remove Adams from office, appeared to issue a warning to a mayor she has often portrayed as a close ally, saying in a statement that she would consider her “options and obligations” it was reviewed and expects that they “The Mayor will take the coming days to assess the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure that the people of New York City are well served by their leaders.”

Adams, who rose to become a middle-class law advocate, is charged with five counts: wire fraud, bribery, conspiracy and two counts of receiving campaign contributions from a foreign national. If convicted of the most serious charge, wire fraud, he faces up to 20 years in prison, federal prosecutors said.

Adams is accused, among other things, of allowing a senior Turkish diplomat and others to shower him with luxury accommodations to places like France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, Ghana and Turkey, including valuable business-class and luxury upgrades meals. and even a trip to a Turkish bath. Most of the travel took place while Adams was Brooklyn borough president before running for mayor.

Adams is also accused of conspiring to take campaign contributions from foreign sources barred from giving to U.S. campaigns, and of disguising the payments by routing them through straw donors.

In return, Adams is said to have done favors for his patrons, including ensuring that Turkey’s newly built diplomatic tower in Manhattan would not be subject to a fire inspection that was certain to fail.

Spiro, whose list of past and present clients includes Elon Musk, Alec Baldwin and Jay-Z, said it was neither unusual nor inappropriate for an elected official to accept certain travel benefits. The mayor has denied ever knowingly accepting an illegal campaign contribution and said any help he gave people navigating the city bureaucracy was just part of his job.

Adams’ indictment is unlikely to be the last word on federal investigations involving the city government.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams told reporters Thursday: “This investigation continues. We’ll keep digging, and we’ll hold more people accountable, and I encourage anyone with information to come forward and do so before it’s too late.”

Federal prosecutors are believed to be leading multiple, separate investigations involving Adams and his senior aides and family members of those aides. In early September, federal investigators seized devices from the police commissioner, the chancellor of schools, two deputy mayors and other trusted Adams confidantes.

None of those other officials have been publicly accused of misconduct or charged with a crime.

The lower Manhattan courthouse is less than two blocks from the courthouse where former President Donald Trump was tried and convicted of falsifying corporate records. Adams’ arraignment took place in the same courthouse where a jury found Trump civilly liable for sexually assaulting writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996 and in the same courtroom where hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was indicted on sex trafficking charges last week. .