Additional charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams are ‘possible’ in corruption case, federal prosecutor says

New York (CNN) — Additional charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams are “possible” and it’s “likely” there will be additional defendants charged as part of the alleged scheme in the federal corruption case, a prosecutor said Wednesday at a court hearing.

Federal prosecutor Hagan Scotten said they have evidence that Adams attempted to tamper with a witness in the investigation. Scotten alleged that after FBI agents approached one witness the person was given a “clear message from the defendant” that this person should not tell the truth to the FBI.

Scotten called it a “significant instance of witness interference in this case.”

The accusation “is the sort of nonsense that prosecutors say when they don’t have a real case. If they had a real case, they would have brought it,” defense attorney Alex Spiro said after the hearing.

Scotten also said in court prosecutors have been unable to access the mayor’s cell phone they obtained last November. Adams changed the password after he learned of the investigation and then told authorities he forgot the new one, according to the indictment.

The federal prosecutor revealed new information about the investigation, saying it began in the summer of 2021 before Adams became mayor.

The additional defendants could be charged in a superseding indictment or in a separate case, Scotten added.

Adams is facing five federal counts of bribery, corruption, wire fraud and soliciting and accepting donations from foreign nationals. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment last week and has said he did nothing wrong.

While Judge Dale Ho said a speedy trial is in the public and mayor’s interest, he was not prepared to set a trial date.

The next hearing is tentatively scheduled for November 1 for arguments over Adams’ motion to dismiss the bribery charge and explore whether prosecutors leaked information about the investigation to the media.

Spiro told the judge they wanted the trial over by March because of the certification process for next year’s mayoral election, signaling the embattled mayor hasn’t ruled out running for reelection.

Scotten suggested using former Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez’s bribery case as a baseline to come up with a schedule. He proposed going to trial in May but said they would be ready whenever it’s set.

Separately, Scotten said they have not received the full response from City Hall to subpoenas issued in July, which requested information about the mayor’s contact with other foreign governments, including Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan.

Spiro acknowledged that they hadn’t finished turning over documents and records in response to the subpoena, but he suggested prosecutors were viewing all of the mayor’s interactions with immigrant communities as “suspicious.”

After Adams first traveled to Turkey in 2015 and established “corrupt relationships,” a senior Turkish diplomatic official introduced him to a Turkish airline’s general manager in the New York City area, according to the indictment.

On three separate trips – once in 2016 and twice the following year – federal authorities allege Adams solicited and accepted free and heavily discounted travel from the airline “as part of the Turkish Official’s efforts to gain influence” over Adams.

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