Mayor Eric Adams’ lawyers mounted a desperate 11th-hour bid to quash the criminal charges against him — including by arguing to the feds that his historic prosecution would be ruinous for the city. A behind-the-scenes Sept. 12 missive — exclusively obtained by The Post — was sent from Adams’ legal team to Manhattan prosecutors before the historic federal indictment against Hizzoner was unveiled Thursday and provides a detailed glimpse into the mayor’s defense.
The feds’ case — based on accusations that Adams accepted bribes and illegal straw donations to his 2021 mayoral campaign from Turkish nationals — is on flimsy legal ground, especially after a recent US Supreme Court ruling that significantly narrows what counts as a bribe, the mayor’s lawyers argued in the letter. Such supposedly shaky prosecution would not only be ruinous for Adams’ career but also detrimental for New York City and the 750,000 voters who put him in Gracie Mansion, they argued. “We urge the Department to decline prosecution of Eric Adams in the interests of justice,” the lawyers wrote.
A stony-faced Adams pleaded not guilty Friday in Manhattan federal court to a slew of corruption charges, ranging from bribery to conspiracy and wire fraud. His lawyers’ last-ditch push to try to head off what is shaping up as an unprecedented criminal trial occurred in the weeks before. In the recent letter, Adams’ lawyers bemoaned their limited, one-way exchanges with prosecutors from US A.