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Mayor Eric Adams’ attorney urges federal judge to decide his criminal case this week
By
Samantha Max
Published Mar 31, 2025
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By
Samantha Max
Published Mar 31, 2025
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Mayor Eric Adams’ attorney is urging a federal judge to decide whether to drop his criminal charges before a key deadline this week in the mayoral race.
In a letter to United States District Judge Dale Ho, Adams’s defense attorney Alex Spiro noted petitions for candidacy are due this Thursday and asked for a “prompt resolution in the case.”
“Now, with the petition-filing deadline just days away, we respectfully urge the court to issue its decision as soon as practicable,” Spiro wrote.
Adams was indicted last September on bribery and other corruption charges. Federal prosecutors accused him of trading his political power for expensive flight upgrades, ritzy hotel accommodations and illegal campaign donations. The mayor pleaded not guilty and has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. He was supposed to stand trial in late April.
Weeks after President Donald Trump took office, Department of Justice officials that he appointed directed federal prosecutors to dismiss Adams’ case. They didn’t weigh in on the merits of the charges but said prosecutors had indicted Adams too close to the mayoral election and that the case was interfering with his ability to focus on violent crime and immigration enforcement. The directive sparked criticisms that the Trump administration might use Adams to help with its policy agenda and hold the possibility of reviving the case over his head if he didn’t comply.
Several prosecutors refused to ask a judge to toss the charges and resigned, including then-acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon, who said in a letter that Adams’ lawyers had pressed for a “quid pro quo” during a meeting with prosecutors. Following a series of resignations, prosecutors in Washington D.C. signed off on a motion to dismiss the indictment.
The judge presiding over Adams’ case declined to immediately drop the charges. Instead, he assigned an outside attorney to assess whether the case should be dismissed. That attorney, Paul Clement, said the court should throw out the charges “with prejudice,” meaning they could not be brought again in the future. Clement said that would prevent the Trump administration from using the case as a bargaining chip.
Clement submitted his brief on the case in early March. Judge Ho has not yet issued a ruling with a decision on what should happen to Adams’ case.
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public safety
Politics
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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