As N.Y. mayor pleads not guilty, investigators stop top aide at airport

NEW YORK - Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty Friday to federal charges of bribery, wire fraud and taking illegal campaign donations, even as state investigators seized the electronic devices of one of his top advisers at the airport - the latest indication of multiple, wide-ranging corruption probes related to City Hall.

Appearing in a packed Manhattan courtroom, 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.

A short time earlier, the Manhattan district attorney’s office and the New York City Department of Investigation met Adams’s top adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, at an arrivals gate at JFK International Airport, Lewis-Martin’s lawyer said. The law enforcement personnel intercepted her electronics as part of a separate investigation, said a person with knowledge of the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive details.

Lewis-Martin was not taken into custody, but her Brooklyn home was searched shortly after her return from a trip to Japan, according to the person, who also said federal prosecutors were present at the airport to serve Lewis-Martin with a subpoena connected to the charges against Adams.

Her attorney, Arthur Aidala, confirmed the subpoena from federal prosecutors and the home search.

Aidala said in a statement that Lewis-Martin “will cooperate fully with any all investigations” and that she “is not the target of any case of which we are aware.” A spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to comment or confirm the existence of the probe.

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.

The midday 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.

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.

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.”

The 57-page indictment alleges that Adams “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him.”

If convicted, he could face a lengthy prison sentence.

Prosecutors said the allegedly corrupt relationships began before Adams was elected mayor in 2021 and continued after he assumed office. According to the indictment, after becoming mayor, Adams - who previously served as a state senator and Brooklyn borough president - accepted requests from people who had illegally supported him and rebuffed “those who fell short.”

The federal probe has been marked by searches and other investigative activity for about a year and appears to be one of multiple corruption inquiries involving Adams, his senior aides and some of their relatives. On Thursday, federal agents searched the mayor’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, and seized Adams’s phone and electronic devices, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a sensitive process.

The indictment could have a seismic impact on politics in New York, where Adams is up for reelection next year.

At least four Democrats have already jumped into the Democratic primary race. Former governor Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat who resigned in 2021 after a state investigation found he sexually harassed 11 women and sought to retaliate against one accuser, has told others he may be interested in running for the job.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), who succeeded Cuomo and has the power to remove Adams from office, called the indictment “the latest in a disturbing pattern of events” and said that while “all of us are presumed innocent until proven otherwise,” elected officials “know that we’re held to a higher standard.”

“While I review my options and obligations as the Governor of New York, I expect the Mayor to take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure the people of New York City are being well-served by their leaders,” her Thursday statement said.

At a news conference Thursday, federal and local officials denounced Adams’s conduct as a betrayal of the public trust. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams warned that the indictment unsealed Thursday would probably not be the last.

“Year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark” about the gifts “he was secretly being showered with,” Williams said of the mayor. When it came to illegal foreign donations, Williams said, “Adams directed his staff to pursue this foreign money.”

- - -

Barrett and Berman reported from Washington.