A federal judge has rejected a request from Mayor Adams to throw out his corruption case because former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damien Williams, who brought the charges, recently penned an op-ed about New York City being in a state of “deep crisis.”
Adams’ request, filed last week by lead attorney Alex Spiro, said the recent op-ed from Williams violated rules against prejudicing the jury pool in the mayor’s case ahead of his expected April trial.
In his filing, Spiro also claimed the ex-prosecutor wrote the op-ed, published in City & State, “to bolster his own immediate candidacy for office, potentially including Mayor of New York City,” though Williams hasn’t announced any plans to seek any elected positions.
Williams resigned as Manhattan U.S. attorney in mid-December after then-incoming President Trump announced he would seek to replace him with corporate lawyer Jay Clayton.
In a decision released late Wednesday, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Dale Ho rejected Spiro’s argument, charging the “op-ed does not contain any statements that run afoul” of criminal case rules.
“In fact, the majority of the statements in the op-ed that Mayor Adams claims are problematic concern New York State rather than New York City politics,” Ho wrote.
Neither Spiro nor Williams immediately returned requests for comment. Spiro has filed other requests for dismissal that were also rejected by Ho.
In his Jan. 16 op-ed, Williams wrote New York City is “being led with a broken ethical compass” that has compounded the city’s problems amid a “declining quality of life – high housing costs, a too-often-unsafe subway and a general sense of disorder.”
Spiro had argued in his filing that in using such rhetoric, Williams tried to “interfere with a fair trial” for Adams.
Adams was indicted by Williams’ office in September on charges alleging he took bribes and illegal campaign cash from Turkish government operatives and others in exchange for political favors, like expedited building safety inspections. Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Adams’ case is moving forward, and Manhattan federal prosecutors recently wrote in a filing they have as part of their ongoing investigation uncovered “additional criminal conduct” he allegedly engaged in.
With Molly Crane-Newman
Originally Published:
