Federal prosecutors who indicted Mayor Adams on corruption prices final yr in a probe of connections to Turkey allege they’ve uncovered “additional criminal conduct” wherein the mayor and others engaged.
The prosecutors from the Manhattan U.S. lawyer’s workplace wrote in a court docket submitting late Monday they unearthed proof of the conduct as a part of their “ongoing investigation” into the mayor’s ties to Turkey’s authorities.
The feds didn’t elaborate on what the conduct in query is or who the opposite people are.
The disclosure comes after the feds in October — days after first charging Adams with bribery and different crimes — stated it was “quite likely” they might convey a superseding indictment and it was “possible” it may embody further counts towards the mayor.
Since then, Adams’ protection lawyer, Alex Spiro, has accused prosecutors of overplaying their hand, writing in a submitting final month that the “incriminating evidence” they deliberate to base their superseding indictment on “does not exist.”
Tuesday’s submitting from the prosecutors got here in response to that declare from Spiro and signifies they’re nonetheless pursuing a possible superseding indictment.
Spiro has additionally argued in court docket papers that the case towards Adams is sort of solely primarily based on testimony from Rana Abbasova, Adams’ ex-Turkish neighborhood liaison who’s cooperating within the federal probe. The Adams lawyer has argued Abbasova is a disgruntled staffer with an ax to grind.
Mayor Eric Adams, proper, is pictured outdoors Manhattan Federal Courtroom along with his lawyer, Alex Spiro, after pleading not responsible on a number of corruption prices Friday, Sept. 27, 2024 in Manhattan, New York. (Barry Williams for New York Every day Information)
In Monday’s submitting, the feds pushed again on that characterization,
“Despite Adams’s claim that the case against him is based on a particular purported witness, the affidavits generally rely on records rather than the witnesses, and do not rely on the individual he often discusses at all,” prosecutors stated,
Spiro didn’t instantly return a request for remark Tuesday.
The most recent submitting from the feds comes at a time of flux for the Manhattan U.S. lawyer’s workplace.
Former U.S. Legal professional Damian Williams, who introduced the case towards Adams, stepped down final month after President-elect Donald Trump — who has publicly entertained pardoning the Democratic mayor for his alleged crimes — introduced he plans to nominate company lawyer Jay Clayton to take over the reins on the outstanding workplace.
The workplace is now being led by Edward Kim, who was deputy U.S, Legal professional below Williams.
Rana Abbasova (NYC.Gov)
Adams’ Sept. 26 indictment, which made him the primary New York Metropolis mayor in fashionable historical past to face felony prices, alleges he took bribes and unlawful marketing campaign money, principally from Turkish authorities operatives, in change for doling out political favors.
The favors allegedly embody the mayor pressuring the FDNY to resolve fireplace questions of safety on the Turkish consulate in Manhattan so the constructing may open in time for a go to by the nation’s chief, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in fall 2021.
Adams has pleaded not responsible and is anticipated to face trial in April.
In addition to Adams, Mohamed Bahi, a former aide to the mayor at Metropolis Corridor, was indicted in November on prices alleging he obstructed the investigation into the mayor. He’s in talks with the feds a few potential plea deal.
Simply earlier than Christmas, the feds additionally revealed Erden Arkan, a Brooklyn building firm government, plans to plead responsible to funneling unlawful straw donations into Adams’ 2021 marketing campaign coffers on behalf of a Turkish authorities government.
