New York Mayor Eric Adams pleads not guilty to corruption charges

NEW YORK - Mayor Eric Adams was arraigned Friday and pleaded not guilty to federal charges of bribery, wire fraud and taking illegal campaign donations.

Appearing in a packed courtroom not far from City Hall, Adams - the first sitting New York mayor charged with a crime - listened as Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker read through the extensive list of corruption allegations facing him.

“Mayor Adams, what do you wish to plead?” Parker asked.

“I am not guilty, your honor,” Adams (D) said.

The arraignment lasted a little more than 15 minutes. When it ended, Adams left the room and headed to the clerk’s office to arrange his bond. Prosecutors consented to him being released as long as he did not speak to any witnesses or people named in the indictment. He is due back in court Wednesday morning for a hearing in front of District Judge Dale E. Ho, who has been assigned the case.

Adams, a former New York City police officer turned politician, has vowed to stay in office and fight the federal charges, despite growing calls from fellow Democrats to resign. In court, he wore a dark suit, maroon tie and a beaded bracelet. He came into the room without handcuffs, as members of his police security detail milled around him.

After the hearing, Adams attorney Alex Spiro denounced the charges and said his client was innocent. Spiro said he planned to file a motion to have the case dismissed and predicted that this would succeed.

He compared the charges Adams faces to the case brought against former New York lieutenant governor Brian Benjamin, who was indicted on corruption-related offenses in 2022 and resigned. That case was dismissed by a federal judge who concluded that prosecutors failed to allege a clear “quid pro quo,” but revived by an appeals court this spring.

“Same prosecutors,” Spiro said. “Same theory. But the spectacle of this, so exciting to them, that they wanted to bring another one of these cases.”

Spiro said there was no evidence that Adams “knew about anything having to do with these campaign donations.” The case is built on assertions from “one staffer” who lied, Spiro said.

Adams stood silently alongside Spiro outside the courthouse, at one point giving a thumb’s up to someone who shouted a message of support. When Spiro’s remarks were finished, he and Adams walked away while someone shouted a question about the calls for the mayor to resign.

After the indictment was unsealed Thursday, Adams vowed to proceed with his work as mayor, saying his attorneys would “take care of the case so I can take care of the city.”

Prosecutors and Spiro have agreed to put together a list of people with whom Adams can communicate as he carries out his official duties. That list is not expected to be made public. During the arraignment, Parker told Adams that any restriction on who he can speak to will not include “routine communications regarding business and private family matters.”