US prosecutors who indicted New York Mayor Eric Adams due to his allegedly corrupt dealings with the Turkish government have requested a closed meeting with the judge handling Adams’ corruption case due to the need to discuss classified material, The New York Times reported.
Adams is charged with bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals in a 57-page indictment unsealed on September 26. The indictment accuses him of accepting illegal donations and more than $100,000 worth of free plane tickets and luxury hotel stays from wealthy Turkish nationals and at least one government official in a nearly decade-long corruption scheme.
In a letter US prosecutors requested a classified meeting in a secure courtroom with District Judge Dale E. Ho, without lawyers for Adams present, because “the government intends to discuss certain classified information,” the US attorney, Damian Williams, wrote.
It was unclear what information in the Adams case was so sensitive that prosecutors were seeking to keep it out of open court, but the prosecutors’ move is interpreted as an attempt to comply with the Classified Information Procedures Act.
Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Adams, said in court on Wednesday that he was not concerned about any of the evidence prosecutors planned to disclose, be it classified or not.
“We don’t believe they have any evidence in this case at all to prove these charges,” he said.
The 57-page indictment accuses the mayor of America’s biggest city of crimes going back a decade, when Adams, a Democrat, took office as Brooklyn’s borough president.
According to the charges, he accepted luxury international flights, hotel suites and free high-end restaurant meals including from Turkish associates in return for favors.
In one example, prosecutors say Adams pressured the city’s fire department to approve Turkey’s new high-rise consulate in Manhattan despite safety concerns.
The allegations prompted calls for Adams’ resignation, but Adams, who pleaded not guilty to charges, has remained defiant, saying that he is looking “forward to defending myself” and urging New Yorkers to “wait to hear our side of the story.”