NYC Mayor Eric Adams pleads not guilty to bribery, fraud conspiracy

MANHATTAN (CN) — New York City mayor Eric Adams made his first courtroom appearance in his federal wire fraud and bribery case on Friday afternoon, pleading not guilty to a criminal indictment accusing him of trading political favors for campaign donations and luxury perks.

“I am not guilty, Your Honor,” he said during a 20-minute arraignment hearing on the top floor of the Manhattan federal courthouse.

The first-term Democratic mayor stands accused of selling his political influence to foreign nationals, including Turkish government officials and businessmen, according to a five-count federal indictment unsealed Thursday.

Responding to the accusations of quid pro quo corruption, Adams has repeatedly stood firm that he will not resign.

Adams, represented solely by attorney Alex Spiro of the firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, entered his plea of not guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker. He waived a public reading of the 57-page federal indictment.

Parker agreed to release Adams on bail without any restrictions on travel or having to surrender his passport**.** She barred him from contact witnesses or other people named in his indictment, with some exceptions for family or employees in his capacity as mayor.

She also warned the mayor to not engage in witness intimidation.

Spiro, a prolific celebrity lawyer who has represented Elon Musk and Alec Baldwin, told the judge he plans to file a motion to dismiss the indictment by next week. “We are going to be wanting a speedy trial here,” he said.

Outside court following the hearing, Spiro criticized the strength of the bribery charges brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “This case isn’t even a real case," he said. “This is the airline upgrade corruption case.”

Wearing a dark suit with a maroon tie, Adams sat stone faced for most of the hearing, staring straight ahead and occasionally rubbing a beaded prayer bracelet on right wrist.

The Southern District of New York indictment made Adams the first mayor in New York City history to be federally indicted while in office. He surrendered to the U.S. Marshals at the Manhattan federal courthouse on Friday morning, three hours before his hearing was scheduled to start.

Adams, 64, is accused in the indictment of a long-running conspiracy in which he is said to have solicited and accepted luxury perks and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish government official and Turkish businessmen who sought to purchase political favors from him before and after he was elected in 2021.

Prosecutors say corruption began a decade ago when he served as the Brooklyn Borough President and continued through his mayoral administration.

He accepted more than $100,000 in undisclosed luxury travel perks, including high-end hotel stay, free airline flights and upgrades arranged by a diplomat from Turkey, prosecutors alleged in the indictment.

“I want to be clear, these upgrades and freebies were not part of some frequent flyer or benefits program available to the general public,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference Thursday. “This was a multiyear scheme to buy favor from a single New York City official on the rise.”

Prosecutors also said Adams, who is up for reelection next year, funneled those illegal foreign campaign donations through straw donors in the U.S., including New York City-area construction companies, to circumvent federal election laws, during fundraising for his 2021 mayoral bid and his upcoming 2025 reelection campaign.

Those illegal campaign contributions, prosecutors claim, helped Adams collect $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 New York City residents.

He released a prerecorded video message late Wednesday before the indictment had been unsealed, vowing to stay in office and decrying any charges against him as “entirely false” and “based on lies.” “I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit,” he said. “If I’m charged, I know I’m innocent.”

Representative Jerry Nadler of New York, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, on Friday morning joined growing calls for Adams to step down as mayor. “My belief is that the mayor has lost the ability to effectively lead the City of New York, and therefore, he must resign,” he wrote in a statement.

The next hearing in the is set for Oct. 2 before U.S. District Judge Dale Ho, the Biden-appointed judge who will preside over the case.

Follow @jruss_jruss