Eric Adams wants federal bribery trial to wrap before 2025 NYC mayoral primary

MANHATTAN (CN) — Indicted New York City Mayor Eric Adams told a federal judge on Wednesday that he wants his criminal trial on bribery charges to be over by March 2025 so he can run for reelection without the case hanging over him as Big Apple voters begin considering candidates.

“At trial we expect the mayor to be acquitted,” defense attorney Alex Spiro told the federal judge presiding over Adams’ bribery case. “What we’re asking is to have this case resolved … before when the election process meaningfully begins.”

The outcome for Adams’ reelection campaign could be “quite different being an acquitted, innocent man rather than a man under the weight of this case,” the Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan lawyer said.

Federal prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Dale Ho that they expect Adams’ trial to take four weeks, including three weeks for the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s case-in-chief, and one week for Adams’ defense case.

Spiro quickly rebutted the prosecution’s estimate: “I don’t see the government’s case taking more than a week,” he said.

“We don’t believe they have any evidence in this case to prove these charges,” he said later in the hearing.

Asked if the prosecution expects there to be a superseding indictment, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten told Ho: “We think that is quite likely,” saying that it is “likely additional defendants will be charged” and “possible” more charges will be filed against Adams.

Scotten suggested the court could use former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez’s criminal bribery trial earlier this year in Manhattan federal court as a model for scheduling a trial for a sitting politician like Adams.

Menendez was indicted in the Southern District of New York in September 2023, and went to trial in May. A jury found him guilty on all counts in July.

Spiro said the Menendez trial, with multiple co-defendants and several superseding indictments, was “nothing like this case.”

During an initial conference in the case on Wednesday morning, Ho set a schedule for pretrial motions and deadlines for evidence gathering, but held off setting a trial date for Adams.

Adams is accused in the indictment of trading his political influence to foreign nationals, including Turkish government officials and businessmen, in exchange for more than $100,000 in undisclosed luxury travel perks, including a high-end hotel stay, free airline flights and upgrades arranged by a diplomat from Turkey.

Prosecutors say the corruption began a decade ago when Adams served as the Brooklyn borough president — a post that holds no authority over passing legislation or enforcing laws — and continued through his mayoral administration.

Prosecutors also accuse Adams of soliciting illegal campaign donations from so-called “straw donors,” which they say contributed to Adams unlocking $10 million in public campaign funds from a municipal program administered by the New York City Campaign Finance Board that matches small-dollar contributions from city residents.

Since the indictment was first reported last week, Adams pleaded not guilty and has refused to resign as mayor, despite calls from fellow New York Democratic politicians to step down.

He did not comment to reporters as he left the Manhattan federal courthouse on Wednesday morning, but flashed a thumbs-up as he got into an SUV while Black Lives Matter New York co-founder Hawk Newsome taunted him with a megaphone from across the street.

On Tuesday, Adams filed a motion for sanctions accusing the Department of Justice of leaking sensitive grand jury testimony and evidence to media outlets, including the New York Times, for months prior to the public unsealing of the indictment last week.

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