The feds fired back Friday at Mayor Eric Adams’ bid to toss part of his corruption case – ripping his claim that the luxury goodies showered on him by Turkish benefactors were “routine” perks for politicians. The court filing – a response to Adams’ lawyers’ Sept. 30 motion urging a Manhattan federal judge to can a bribery charge – slams the defense’s argument that the feds are unjustly criminalizing Hizzoner’s “common” political activity.
“Adams claims that accepting tens of thousand of dollars’ worth of benefits in exchange for pressuring a City agency is ‘routine’ and ‘common’,” federal prosecutors quipped in a 30-page court filing. “But however routine that may have been for Adams, the law permits a jury to conclude that it was nonetheless illegal.” The bribery count is one of five charges the mayor faces in the unprecedented case .
Adams is accused of accepting $123,000 worth of bribes from a Turkish diplomat and Turkish businesspeople – including cushy flight upgrades and discounted stays at luxe hotels – as well as thousands of dollars in illegal money funneled to his 2021 mayoral campaign. In exchange, Adams did favors on behalf of his benefactors, including, as de facto mayor-elect in September 2021, pressuring the FDNY to rush to open a new 36-story Turkish consular building despite fire safety concerns, the indictment alleges. Prosecutors also countered a claim made by Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro that some of the benefi.
