New York Mayor Eric Adams, indicted for corruption and illegal campaign financing in a case involving Turkey, returned to court on Wednesday where prosecutors warned they were considering new charges against him and other suspects.
The 64-year-old elected Democrat, who for the moment has ruled out resigning, gave a thumbs-up to photographers upon his arrival and then as he left the Manhattan federal court.
The first mayor in the history of New York indicted in the exercise of his mandate, he pleaded not guilty Friday to corruption and illegal campaign financing, two days after the announcement of the prosecution decided by a grand jury of citizens.
Former captain of the New York Police Department (NYPD), Eric Adams is notably being prosecuted for having been “showered” with gifts from entrepreneurs and Turkish nationals, and for having failed to declare these gratifications, most often business class plane trips or stays in hotel suites.
In exchange for bribes, according to the prosecution, he also used his influence with the city’s firefighters to accelerate the opening of a skyscraper housing Turkey’s mission to the United Nations and its consulate general, in time for an inauguration in the presence of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in September 2021.
At the hearing Wednesday, one of the prosecutors, Hagan Scotten, warned that it was “likely” that other suspects would be charged in the case, and that additional charges against Eric Adams were “possible”, according to American media present in the courtroom.
Eric Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, who filed an appeal to have one of the five charges overturned, demanded that a trial be organized before March, so that Eric Adams would, according to him, be acquitted before the next Democratic Party primary for mayor of New York, in the spring of 2025.
Judge Dale Ho reserved his decision on a possible trial date and set a new procedural hearing for October 31.