Federal prosecutors on Friday argued against a request by Mayor Eric Adams that a judge throw out a bribery charge against Mr. Adams, saying they had clearly demonstrated his alleged pattern of soliciting and accepting luxury travel.
In a 25-page filing, prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan also said that Mr. Adams, the first sitting New York City mayor in modern history to be indicted on criminal charges, was mistaken in arguing that his actions were routine for a public official. They said a jury should decide the issue.
“It should be clear from the face of the indictment that there is nothing routine about a public official accepting over $100,000 in benefits from a foreign diplomat, which he took great pains to conceal — including by manufacturing fake paper trails to create the illusion of payment,” prosecutors said.
The filing is the latest installment in what will most likely be a long, contentious legal battle between the mayor and federal prosecutors, led by Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District.
In September, federal prosecutors announced a five-count indictment against Mr. Adams that included charges of bribery and fraud. Prosecutors have said in court that they might bring additional charges against the mayor and others.
Mr. Adams has pleaded not guilty and has asked the federal judge overseeing the case, Dale E. Ho, to issue sanctions against prosecutors after accusing them of leaking information about the investigation to reporters. Prosecutors were expected to file a response later on Friday to the allegations that they had leaked information.
There are five corruption investigations swirling around Mr. Adams and members of his inner circle; federal authorities are conducting four of the inquiries. A cascade of resignations among the mayor’s top aides and officials has destabilized his administration.
Mr. Adams, who says he is running for re-election despite the indictment and investigations, has ignored calls to resign, insisting that he is innocent. Gov. Kathy Hochul, who could remove the mayor, a fellow Democrat, under the City Charter, has not chosen to do so.
In the meantime, Mr. Adams and his lawyers have mounted his defense in court and through radio interviews, news conferences and other public events. His lawyer, Alex Spiro, has said the charges were “not a real case.” Mr. Spiro has attacked prosecutors, saying that they were criminalizing routine political activity.
“New Yorkers will see through this,” Mr. Spiro said.
In the request to dismiss the bribery charge, Mr. Spiro argued that the accusations against the mayor did not meet the federal definition of bribery. Mr. Adams’s lawyers have said that they would challenge the other four counts against him as the case progressed.
Legal experts who reviewed the charges against Mr. Adams have said that the bribery accusation would probably be the hardest to prove, as the Supreme Court has narrowed the instances in which the bribery statute applies to acts by public officials.
The bribery charge against Mr. Adams stems from an accusation that he pressured the Fire Department to approve a high-rise consulate building in Midtown Manhattan owned by the Turkish government after years of soliciting and accepting free and discounted luxury travel.
In the indictment and the filing on Friday, prosecutors said that when a Turkish official needed Mr. Adams to intervene with the Fire Department, the official asked one of Mr. Adams’s staff members “to remind Adams of all the support Turkey had offered, and that it was now ‘his turn.’” Prosecutors said Mr. Adams responded, “I know.”
“The natural reading of that exchange is that Adams was acknowledging a pre-existing bargain,” prosecutors said in the filing. “And after performing the corrupt act, Adams reached right back out to collect more payment, requesting what would amount to over $12,000 in luxury travel.”
According to the indictment, Mr. Adams pushed the Fire Department for “fast action” to open the Turkish consulate without an inspection.
“The Fire Prevention Chief turned on a dime, having been told he would be fired if he failed to comply,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors also disputed other technical arguments in Mr. Adams’s request for the dismissal of the bribery charge, saying the arguments did not apply in this case or were not grounds for the charge to be thrown out. Ultimately, prosecutors argued, they had laid out their evidence that Mr. Adams had accepted bribes and a jury should have the chance to hear the case, even if the mayor claimed his actions were “common.”
“However routine that may have been for Adams,” prosecutors wrote, “the law permits a jury to conclude that it was nonetheless illegal.”
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