Eric Adams shows up to court for the first time since his historic indictment
Barry Williams for New York Daily News via Getty Images
- Eric Adams appeared in federal court Friday for his criminal arraignment.
- The New York City mayor is scheduled to enter a plea for the bribery indictment against him.
- Prosecutors say Adams took bribes from Turkey in the form of luxury travel perks.
Mayor Eric Adams arrived at a federal courthouse in Manhattan Friday morning, where he is expected to enter a plea in his sprawling criminal bribery case.
Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York have accused Adams of participating in a yearslong scheme in which he accepted bribes, including luxury travel perks, from the Turkish government.
In exchange, prosecutors said Adams pushed city officials to approve plans for the Turkish House, a 36-story tower near the United Nations that houses Turkey's consulate and other diplomatic functions.
Adams has denied wrongdoing. He is expected to formally enter a plea during a court hearing before US Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker at noon.
The hearing happened in the same 26th floor of the courtroom where Sean "Diddy" Combs — to whom Adams gave a "key to the city" in September 2023 — was arraigned on his own set of criminal charges last week.
Adams is being represented in his criminal case by Alex Spiro, Elon Musk's go-to lawyer. Spiro recently won an acquittal for Alec Baldwin in a criminal case over the "Rust" movie set shooting.
Since the indictment, the number of Democrats calling for Adams' resignation has grown.
If the mayor pleads not guilty in the case, his trial is set to be overseen by US District Judge Dale Ho, a former top election lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union who was nominated by President Joe Biden.
Ho took the bench a year ago, and a trial for Adams would be his first high-profile case as a judge.