Eric Adams pleads not guilty to historic bribery and fraud 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 entered a not-guilty plea to the bribery and fraud indictment against him.
- Prosecutors say Adams sought and enjoyed luxury travel perks from Turkish officials.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty to his sprawling criminal bribery indictment after sitting through a lengthy reading of the charges during his arraignment in a federal courtroom in Manhattan.
Adams was not required to post bail, though his release was conditioned on his having no contact with people named in the indictment.
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 entered his plea before US Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker at shortly after 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.
The mayor's 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.
This story was updated with details from the arraignment and to correct the spelling of US Magistrate Katharine Parker's first name.