NYC Mayor Adams asks court for earlier trial date in corruption case so he can focus on reelection
NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams on Monday asked the judge presiding over his federal public corruption case to set an earlier trial date so he can focus on getting reelected in 2025.
The case is set to go on trial on April 21, per a Nov. 1 ruling by Manhattan federal court Judge Dale Ho. In a new letter, Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, asked that it begin on April 1.
“As it currently stands, the resolution of trial would only be one month before New York voters cast their ballots in the 2025 Democratic primary,” Spiro wrote.
An earlier trial date, Spiro argued, would ensure that the mayor “will be able to fully participate in his reelection campaign and that this city’s voters can be rid of the distraction of this misguided indictment as they hear from and evaluate the Democratic candidates for mayor on their merits.”
Spiro said Adams waived all outstanding motions related to evidence that the prosecution plans to present. He said Adams would similarly waive access to classified materials if it would get the case in front of a jury sooner.
Adams, 64, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud and secretly soliciting campaign contributions from overseas donors in a five-count indictment handed up by a grand jury in September.
Among other allegations, the feds accuse Adams — starting when he was Brooklyn borough president — of accepting more than $100,000 worth of lavish trips, cruises and hotel stays from a Turkish government official and Turkish businessmen who believed his rising political career would see him one day take the White House.
Adams allegedly repaid the favors by pulling strings for his secret benefactors, such as by pressuring the FDNY to expedite the opening of the 36-floor Turkish Consulate in Manhattan in time for the Turkish president’s visit despite serious fire safety concerns.
Outside of the lavish gifts, Adams allegedly solicited and accepted tens of thousands of dollars in illegal straw donations to his mayoral campaign from Turkish nationals — funneling the payments through U.S. citizens to disguise their origins.
According to the feds, the illegal donations were maximized through the city’s public matching funds program, contributing to the $10 million in public money he received in his last campaign. They say the illegally garnered contributions tainted the whole pot.
Prosecutors conducting several probes involving Adams and his inner circle have said that more indictments will “quite likely” be brought. They are still trying to access the mayor’s cellphone, whose password they say he changed before handing it over and then said he forgot.
Adams denies all allegations and has pushed the court to dismiss the bribery count tied to the consulate allegations. His attorneys have argued that the indictment fails to meet the U.S. Supreme Court’s definition of bribery but rather describes “normal and perfectly lawful acts that many city officials would undertake for the consulate of an important foreign nation.”
Opposing that motion, prosecutors last month said a September 2021 conversation between Adams, then the Democratic nominee for mayor, and former aide Rana Abbasova about it being his “turn” to return favors to Turkey by pressuring the FDNY was “about as express as courts see in a bribery case.”
Despite his indictment, the first of a sitting New York City mayor in modern history, Adams has refused calls to step down, and Monday’s request makes clear he doesn’t plan to. More than two-thirds of New Yorkers think he should, according to a Marist poll released last month, which reported that 65% of those surveyed believed he committed crimes.
Detailing the busy campaign calendar Adams had in 2021, Spiro argued Monday that a late May verdict would allow prosecutors “to sideline Mayor Adams for the vast majority of his remaining reelection campaign, during many of the most important moments” and hamper his ability to win over the city’s electorate.
“(This) prosecution will continue to cast a cloud over that campaign until it is resolved by a jury of New Yorkers,” Spiro wrote.
A spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney declined to comment.
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