Eric Adams To Stand Trial On Corruption Charges in April, Judge Says

Accused of conspiring to funnel illegal contributions from Turkey into his campaign coffers, Mr. Adams has pleaded not guilty.

Mayor Eric Adams of New York City is scheduled to stand trial on corruption charges on April 21, a federal judge said at a hearing on Friday.

The judge, Dale E. Ho, also said that he would make a ruling at a later date on a request by Mr. Adams’s lawyers to throw out a bribery charge against him.

Mr. Adams became the first sitting mayor in modern New York City history to be criminally charged in late September, when prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York secured a five-count indictment against him.

Here Are the Charges Eric Adams Faces, Annotated

The Times annotated the indictment.

Mr. Adams, who sat at a table between his lawyers on Friday throughout the two-hour court hearing, has pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Mr. Adams spent much of their time on Friday presenting arguments around the bribery charge.

The prosecutors have said the charge is merited because Mr. Adams accepted luxury travel from Turkish officials in exchange for pressuring the Fire Department to sign off on the opening of the Turkish government’s high-rise consulate building in Manhattan despite safety concerns.

But John F. Bash, a lawyer for Mr. Adams, said that the alleged benefit Mr. Adams provided did not fit the legal definition of bribery, and that prosecutors were being too broad in their characterization of Mr. Adams’s actions as a quid pro quo.

“I just don’t see how you can say the operation or regulation of that building is a specific activity in that sense,” Mr. Bash said.

Even if the bribery charge is ultimately dismissed, Mr. Adams will still face charges of fraud; conspiracy to commit fraud and receive illegal foreign campaign contributions; and two counts of soliciting illegal foreign campaign contributions.

This is a developing story and will be updated.