New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty Friday to federal bribery charges, firmly rejecting allegations that he accepted overseas travel, campaign cash and other perks from foreign interests seeking to harness his influence.
Adams’ lawyer told a judge that they would move next week to dismiss the case, which has roiled the biggest U.S. city after months of investigations, searches and subpoenas. The first-term Democrat maintains he did nothing wrong and has vowed to stay in office, rebuffing growing calls for him to quit.
Adams, a former police captain, entered the plea in a packed Manhattan courtroom that’s just a short walk from City Hall and has sweeping views of the city.
His appearance, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker, came a day after prosecutors revealed an indictment accusing him of taking $100,000 in flights and stays in opulent hotel suites from people tied to Turkey, and fueling his run for mayor with illegal donations that helped him qualify for more than $10 million in public campaign funds.
“I am not guilty, your honor,” Adams said, looking solemnly at the judge.
Adams was released on the condition that he not contact any witnesses or people described in the indictment. Prosecutors said they would provide his lawyer with a list of names.
Adams is allowed to speak with members of his family and staff — but not about anything pertaining to the allegations, Parker said, warning he could face additional charges and punishment if he were to engage in witness tampering or intimidation.
Adams left the courtroom without commenting. He smiled at a court officer but ignored the rows of reporters he passed on his way out. Afterward, Adams stood silently outside the courthouse while his lawyer, Alex Spiro, railed against the charges to a crowd of cameras and onlookers who exchanged shouts of “Free Eric!” and “Lock him up!”
“This isn’t even a real case. This is the airline upgrade corruption case,” Spiro 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.
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In court for about 18 minutes, Adams sat stoically with his hands folded in his lap as Parker read the charges aloud, her sturdy delivery underscoring the gravity of the case.
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Adams 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, who soared to office as a law-and-order champion of the middle class, is accused of exploiting a yearslong relationship with a Turkish official dating to his time as Brooklyn borough president for personal and political gain, and failing to divulge those entanglements on disclosure forms.
Among other things, Adams is accused of allowing the official and others to shower him with luxury accommodations to places like France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, Ghana and Turkey, including valuable business-class upgrades, high-end meals and even a trip to a Turkish bath. All told, prosecutors say the perks were worth more than $100,000.
Adams is also accused of conspiring with Turkish businessmen and others to funnel illegal foreign donations to his political campaigns, partly by routing them through straw donors who hadn’t actually contributed the money. People who aren’t U.S. citizens are banned by law from donating to U.S. political candidates.
In return, Adams allegedly did favors for his patrons, including in September 2021 when, on the verge of being elected mayor, prosecutors say he helped ensure that Turkey’s newly built diplomatic tower in Manhattan wouldn’t be subject to a fire inspection, which it was certain to fail. At one point, a Turkish official praised him as a “true friend of Turkey,” according to the indictment. Adams allegedly responded: ”Yes even more a true friend of yours. You are my brother.”
Spiro, a vaunted defense lawyer whose roster of past and present clients includes Elon Musk, Alec Baldwin and Jay-Z, said it was neither unusual nor improper for an elected official to accept some travel perks. The mayor has denied ever knowingly accepting an illegal campaign contribution and said any help he gave people navigating city bureaucracy was just part of doing his job.
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 asked Adams to resign, saying the legal process should be allowed to play out.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has the power to remove Adams from office, also did not call on Adams to resign. But she appeared to issue a warning to a mayor she has often portrayed as a close ally, saying in a statement that she was reviewing her “options and obligations” and expects “the mayor to take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure the people of New York City are being well-served by their leaders.”
Adams’ indictment is unlikely to be the last word on federal investigations involving city government.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams told reporters Thursday: “This investigation continues. We continue to dig, and we will hold more people accountable, and I encourage anyone with information to come forward and to do so before it is too late.”
Federal prosecutors are believed to be leading multiple, separate inquiries involving Adams and his senior aides and relatives of those aides. In early September, federal investigators seized devices from the police commissioner, schools chancellor, two deputy mayors and other trusted Adams confidants.
In the last two weeks alone, the police commissioner resigned and the schools chancellor announced he would retire. Neither has been charged with a crime or been publicly accused of wrongdoing.
The Lower Manhattan courthouse is less than two blocks from the one where former President Donald Trump was tried and convicted of falsifying business records. Adams’ arraignment was in the same courthouse where a jury found Trump civilly liable for sexually assaulting the writer E. Jean Carroll in 1996 and in the very same courtroom where hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs was arraigned last week on sex trafficking charges.
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Associated Press reporter Anthony Izaguirre in Albany contributed.