Ex-Mayor Adams top adviser Ingrid Lewis-Martin says she didn’t break law amid news of looming indictment
Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the former chief adviser to Mayor Eric Adams who suddenly resigned over the weekend amid rumors of looming criminal charges, denied she had broken the law Monday.
“I am here falsely accused of something; I don’t know exactly what it is, but I know that I was told that it’s something that’s illegal, and I have never done anything illegal in my capacity in government. I’ve worked in government for over 35 years, in all three branches, federal, state and city,” Lewis-Martin told reporters at a press conference at her lawyer Arthur Aidala’s Midtown law firm.
“During my tenure, I have never taken any gifts, money — anything.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is presenting evidence about Lewis-Martin to a grand jury and is expected to be nearing asking the panel to vote on whether to hand up an indictment.
Aidala, who said he was “proactively” addressing the media to “get some of this out of the way,” said he believed the charges were imminent, would relate to “improper gifts,” and that others would be indicted, too. He said Lewis-Martin declined to provide testimony to grand jurors last week — prosecutors typically extend such an invitation during the final stages of a grand jury probe.
“It is a tremendous risk, and she didn’t feel she would get a fair shake,” Aidala said, adding that the DA’s office declined a request to speak with Lewis-Martin outside the panel’s presence.
Aidala said he thought Lewis-Martin was being targeted to secure her cooperation against the mayor.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Ingrid Lewis-Martin is only in the crosshairs because of her official capacity,” he said.
The DA’s office has declined to comment on or confirm details of the grand jury investigation. Asked for a reaction to Aidala’s comments on Monday, a spokesperson said, “Because this office acts with the utmost integrity, it would be inappropriate for us to respond.”
The New York Times reported Sunday that prosecutors are also looking into Lewis-Martin’s son, Glenn Martin II, who has DJ’d at Gracie Mansion; Mayank Dwivedi, a hotelier who operates multiple properties in the city and the Hamptons; as well as an associate of Dwivedi.
News of potential charges broke hours after Lewis-Martin, 63, announced her immediate resignation early Sunday.
The development that she was being scrutinized by law enforcement emerged in late September when state and federal investigators stopped her at Kennedy Airport as she returned from a trip to Japan.
Manhattan DA investigators seized her cell phone at the airport and informed her they were searching her Brooklyn home. Aidala claimed on Monday that the charges he believed were pending were based on what was seized being taken out context.
Federal prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office simultaneously subpoenaed Lewis-Martin to testify at the airport, a demand that came a day after they unsealed a five-count indictment against the mayor alleging he sold his political influence to wealthy Turkish officials. Aidala said Monday that Lewis-Martin was a witness in a federal probe but not a target. Adams has pleaded not guilty in the case.
The News previously reported that DA investigators also seized devices from Lewis-Martin’s travelmates to Japan — Jesse Hamilton, a former state senator who now manages the city’s vast real estate portfolio, and Diana Boutross, a top broker at the Cushman & Wakefield real estate firm. Aidala previously said the Japan trip was a vacation getaway among friends.
Boutross’ firm is one of two real estate companies that serve as the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ licensed brokers in dealings with private property owners. Neither she nor Hamilton has been accused of criminal wrongdoing, and it was unclear whether they would feature in the pending indictment expected against Lewis-Martin.
Lewis-Martin is the highest-ranking member of Adams’ inner circle to come under legal scrutiny. Her abrupt departure followed a string of high-level City Hall resignations amid investigations on the state and federal levels examining several of his deputies.
Since September, Adams’ former first deputy mayor Sheena Wright; schools chancellor David Banks; ex-NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban; and deputy mayor for public safety Phil Banks have resigned.
Sources on Sunday told the Daily News a split began to emerge between Lewis-Martin and the mayor after she went on Aidala’s radio show, “The Arthur Aidala Power Hour,” after her run-in with law enforcement at the airport. One said they hadn’t spoken for weeks before her resignation.
During the radio interview, Lewis-Martin said she believed the public would see that “we have not done anything illegal to the magnitude or scale that requires the federal government and the DA’s office to investigate us.” Sources said the comment angered Adams for suggesting criminal activity had occurred.
“She was, with all humility, saying, Look, I’m not perfect, but I could tell you for a fact, I never did anything that rose through the criminal level,” Aidala said Monday.
Several hours later, the mayor briefly mentioned his longtime confidant at a separate press conference and shut down further questions.
Adams said he had lifted Lewis-Martin “up in prayer” and asked God “to give her strength in the days to come.”
“She not only has constantly been by my side, she’s not only a friend, but she’s my sister, and I love her so much,” the mayor said.
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(With Chris Sommerfeldt.)
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