NEW YORK (AP) — Another top aide to New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigned Monday, even as the Democrat's lawyers launched a legal attack on the federal corruption case against him and asked a judge to toss out bribery charges. Timothy Pearson, one of the mayor’s closest advisers, submitted his resignation Monday evening, weeks after federal agents seized cellphones, documents and cash from his Long Island home, said his attorney, Hugh H. Mo.
“A lot of allegations have been swirling in the media for months,” Mo said. “There are no merits to these allegations. Pearson, a retired police inspector who served in the department alongside Adams, had a broad role that included overseeing contracts and security at migrant shelters while also maintaining significant influence over the police department.
He has not been publicly accused of wrongdoing by prosecutors or charged with a crime. Adams, a Democrat, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he accepted lavish travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals, and in return performed favors including pushing through the opening of a Turkish consulate building. The mayor’s attorneys filed a motion Monday saying that the cheap flights to overseas destinations, seat upgrades, free meals and free hotel rooms he got were not bribes, as that crime has been defined by federal law.
“Congressmen get upgrades, they get corner suites, they get better tables at restaurants.