Criminal case against Eric Adams: Prosecutors are refusing to drop bribery charges, arguing they have strong evidence against him, filings show

Manhattan prosecutors said Friday that bribery charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams should not be dropped because they had enough hard evidence that he accepted free air travel after pressuring the FDNY despite the objections of inspectors had set to open the new 36-story building of the Turkish consulate.

The mayor’s defense attorney, Alex Spiro, tried last month to dismiss charges that Adams received more than $100,000 in free and discounted luxury trips from Turkish Airlines for nearly a decade in exchange for official favors for businessmen and a Turkish official.

His lawyer said it was a prosecutorial overreach in which the U.S. Attorney’s Office failed to distinguish between bribes and gratuities – “gifts intended to ingratiate themselves with government officials but not tied to a specific issue or issue.” .”

According to a three-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision, bribes are benefits that are expressly granted in exchange for an official act and violate federal law.

Spiro has not denied the four other allegations that the mayor defrauded the city’s campaign finance system by receiving illegal campaign money from foreign donors and concealing the contributions using straw donors. Adams pleaded not guilty to all five counts on September 27.

The bribery allegation focuses primarily on Adams’ alleged push to pressure firefighters to approve the opening of the Turkish consulate in fall 2021, ahead of that country’s presidential visit to New York City.

After years of allegedly receiving free airfare, a Turkish official told a deputy of Adams that it was now “his turn” to do something for Turkey, prosecutors said.

Although Adams was still Brooklyn Borough President, he had won the Democratic primary and was considered a candidate to be the next mayor.

A series of email messages between Adams and the FDNY commissioner, cited by prosecutors in the indictment, show that he requested the building be opened despite deficiencies in the fire alarm system, prosecutors say.

“Adams urged the FDNY commissioner to act quickly, and the fire chief responded promptly after being told he would be fired if he did not comply,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Celia Cohen wrote in her appeal against the hiring the bribery lawsuit.

Spiro argued that this exchange merely shows Adams “giving advice on navigating the city’s bureaucracy and referring diplomatic staff to lawyers who specialize in regulatory matters or building code disputes.”

In their rebuttal, prosecutors said there was a connection between the mayor’s conversation with the fire commissioner and the gifts he received afterward.

“In return, Adams received, among other things, free airfare worth over $12,000 on a trip to Africa, an all-expenses-paid night on the town in Istanbul, and various perks – including transportation, accommodations and a VIP suite at the Turkish airline. “Business class lounge for its main fundraiser,” Cohen wrote in her application.

She also pointed to other official actions, such as Adam’s shutdown of Turkish groups that had fallen out of favor with the country’s current regime.

Spiro has until Oct. 25 to respond to the prosecution’s brief, and Judge Dale Ho promised to schedule a hearing on the matter for Nov. 1 if necessary.