NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams’ lawyer claimed Wednesday that the criminal case against the mayor “is over” and won’t be picked up again because it was weak, countering critics who say the mayor is now compromised and under President Donald Trump’s thumb.
“There is no looming threat. This case is over. This case will never be brought back. It wasn’t a real case in the first place,” Alex Spiro said at a press conference two days after Trump’s Justice Department ordered Manhattan prosecutors to dismiss the corruption charges against Adams.
The memo containing that order — sent by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove on Monday — said the conditional dismissal was about the timing of the case before Adams’ reelection campaign and Adams’ ability to work with the federal government, not about “the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based.” Bove ordered the Southern District of New York to review the case again after the mayoral election.
Spiro argued Wednesday that was just a formality.
“What you have to understand is they are obviously de facto evaluating how serious the case is, and how legally firm or infirm, when they’re making this decision,” he said.
The acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District, Danielle Sassoon, has not publicly responded to Bove’s memo. A spokesperson for the office, Nicholas Biase, declined to comment.
Adams was indicted on five counts of bribery and conspiracy. He pleaded not guilty and was planning to run for reelection while standing trial starting in April, just two months before the June Democratic primary. Now, the case is likely to be dismissed, but his opponents say the charges — and the way Adams has aligned himself with Trump — will still be a political liability.
The mayor’s rivals, and even some allies, have said the Justice Department’s memo keeps Adams under Trump’s influence, suggesting federal charges could be brought again if Adams doesn’t cooperate with Trump’s agenda for immigration enforcement and deportations.
Spiro again denied a New York Times report that he had told the federal government that Adams would not cooperate with immigration officials unless his case was dropped. But he acknowledged that Adams’ ability to function as mayor was part of negotiations.
“All the functioning of the government and the mayor’s abilities to enforce national security issues, terrorism threats, immigration and everything else, his functioning, of course, came up,” Spiro said.
Spiro also said he personally had never discussed Adams’ case with Trump, and that the president played no role in facilitating a meeting with the Justice Department that preceded Bove’s order.
Over nearly 40 minutes, Spiro shied away from the theory — pushed by both Adams and Trump — that President Joe Biden’s Justice Department charged the mayor in retaliation for criticizing his fellow Democrat’s border policy. Instead, Spiro focused on Damian Williams, the former U.S. attorney for the Southern District, arguing he indicted the mayor on flimsy charges to boost his own reputation.
“Is it greed? Is it fame? Is it political office? Are they trying to impress Washington? Are they trying to update their LinkedIn profiles?” Spiro said. “I know that the level of offense versus the fervor that they went at this is suspicious.”
The Southern District had suggested it may bring more charges against the mayor, telling the judge in early January when Biden was still in office that prosecutors had uncovered “additional criminal conduct by Adams.”
Spiro claimed Wednesday that was all hype.
“Despite a lot of fanfare and sensational claims, ultimately there was no evidence that [Adams] broke any laws ever,” he said. “The witnesses that were promised never materialized. The additional charges that were threatened never came.”
Spiro said he would consent to the government releasing all the evidence in the case to prove Adams did nothing wrong.
The defense from Adams’ lawyer was not enough to convince one of the mayor’s opponents.
“Congratulations Eric, it’s great that anyone can beat the system. You proved your political skills by getting Donald Trump to drop the case,” Scott Stringer, the former city comptroller, said in an interview with POLITICO. “But now comes the hard part: you’ve got to answer to the people of this city.”
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