NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams filed a motion to dismiss the bribery count in his federal corruption indictment Monday, calling the feds’ allegations “extraordinarily vague” and saying they lacked proof he broke the law. The mayor’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said the bribery allegations against him lack evidence of Adams agreeing to perform any official act when he received a benefit. The bribery count “alleges only that while serving as Brooklyn Borough President not Mayor, or even Mayor-elect he agreed generally to assist with the ‘operation’ or ‘regulation’ of a Turkish Consulate building in Manhattan, where he had no authority whatsoever, in exchange for travel benefits,” Spiro wrote.
“That extraordinarily vague allegation encompasses a wide array of normal and perfectly lawful acts that many City officials would undertake for the consulate of an important foreign nation.” Spiro said the three text messages cited in the indictment, filed Thursday, that the mayor sent to former Fire Department Commissioner Daniel Nigro, in which he said the consulate needed to be opened in time for the Turkish president’s visit, “conspicuously does not allege” that he agreed to take specific actions in exchange and do not meet the federal standard for bribery. He said there was no evidence Adams knew FDNY staffers faced threats of losing their jobs.
“The indictment contains no allegation that Adams was even aware of that threat, let alone that he himself threaten.
