NYC Mayor Eric Adams gets April 2025 trial date as his lawyers fight to get bribery charge tossed

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams returned to court Friday, sitting stoically as his lawyers fought to eliminate a key charge in the federal corruption indictment that threatens his political future.

The Democrat’s lawyers are fighting to throw out a bribery charge, one of five counts in a case that U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho said will go to trial April 21, 2025.

They argued at a hearing in Manhattan federal court that the charge does not meet the federal standard of a crime, particularly after recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions redefined how bribery is prosecuted.

Prosecutors suggested Adams’ lawyers were splitting hairs because, as they allege, Adams was taking bribes and exerting influence while holding a prior elected office and as he anticipated becoming mayor.

Ho said he would take the arguments “under advisement and attempt to rule shortly.”

The bribery charge “does not state a federal offense” and is “insufficiently specific” to support keeping the count as part of Adams’ indictment, his lawyer John Bash argued.

“The prosecutor for the United States had trouble defining what the ‘quo’ is here,” Bash said, referring to the concept of a “quid pro quo,” a Latin phrase essentially meaning “this for that,” or “something for something.”

The indictment, which also includes wire fraud and conspiracy charges, accuses Adams of accepting flight upgrades and other luxury travel perks valued at $100,000 along with illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals looking to buy his influence.

In exchange, prosecutors say, Adams performed political favors that benefited the Turkish government, including pressuring the fire department in 2021 to approve the opening of a diplomatic tower that it had deemed unsafe.

Adams held a different elected position at the time, Brooklyn borough president, but by then it was clear that he would become mayor.

Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges and vowed to remain in office as he mounts his legal defense.

Bash argued the alleged perks don’t meet the legal definition of bribery because they predate his time as mayor and have “nothing to do with his governmental position.”