Adams lawyers urge judge to dismiss bribery charge, citing ‘extraordinarily vague allegation’

Lawyers for New York City Mayor Eric Adams asked a federal judge Monday to toss out the “extraordinarily vague” bribery charge against him.

In a 25-page filing, Adams attorney Alex Spiro argued that prosecutors failed to prove the mayor took bribes when he allegedly pressured the city’s fire department to open a Turkish consular building without a safety inspection.

“The indictment in this case alleges a ‘bribery’ scheme that does not meet the definition of bribery and indeed does not amount to a federal crime at all,” Spiro wrote.

The Adams attorney cited a recent Supreme Court ruling that made it more challenging to prosecute public officials for corruption. In June, the justices ruled 6-3 in favor of an ex-Indiana mayor who challenged a bribery conviction on the same charge Adams now faces, arguing prosecutors failed to show a “quid pro quo” agreement.

Spiro contended that prosecutors similarly failed to allege any specific exchanges or conversations between Adams and a Turkish official where they entered into such a deal.

“That was not a drafting oversight. The zealous prosecutors who secured the indictment
would have alleged that kind of specific agreement if they had any evidence to support it,” Spiro wrote. “But they do not, and they know that Adams never entered into any such agreement.”

Adams is accused of accepting “improper valuable benefits” over the span of a decade from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official who was seeking to influence him.

Prosecutors say that, eventually, the Turkish official prompted Adams to pay back the benefits by facilitating the expedited opening of a new Turkish consular building, which would have failed a fire safety inspection at the time. The mayor allegedly pressured the New York City Fire Department to open the building, which resulted in a fire department official being told he would lose his job if he didn’t acquiesce.

The bribery charge is one of five counts Adams faces, which also include wire fraud and solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national. He pleaded not guilty on all counts last week, vowing to fight the charges and refusing to resign.

In the Monday filing, Spiro called the rest of the indictment “equally meritless” and said the other charges would be litigated in the future.

“But with respect to bribery, the deficiencies in the government’s case are clear on the face of the indictment,” the mayor’s attorney wrote. “In this circumstance, the federal rules entitle Adams to a swift dismissal of the charge.”

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