Manhattan federal prosecutors divulged in court Wednesday that they are likely to indict “additional defendants” as part of the historic corruption case against Mayor Adams, who was charged last week with soliciting and accepting bribes from Turkish government operatives in exchange for political favors.
Hagan Scotten, a prosecutor in Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams’ office, made the stunning revelation during the mayor’s first appearance before Dale Ho, the federal judge assigned to oversee his criminal case.
“We think that is quite likely,” Scotten said when asked by Ho if a superseding indictment is forthcoming. “And likely additional defendants will be charged in this scheme.”
Rohrbach did not elaborate on who the additional defendants may be or what charges they could face.
The revelation came shortly after Adams sat down in Ho’s courtroom for the initial appearance hearing, joined by his legal team.
The mayor, who has defiantly rebuffed calls to resign, has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, and two counts of soliciting campaign donations from foreign nationals, charges that together carry a maximum of 45 years in prison.
Also in Wednesday’s hearing, Ho was expected to consider a string of requests from Adams’ legal team seeking to erode the case.
On Monday, Adams asked Ho to dismiss a bribery count in the indictment, and on Tuesday, his lawyers requested sanctions against prosecutors for allegedly leaking to the media. His lead attorney, Alex Spiro, said he intended to file a full dismissal motion on Wednesday.
The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office alleges Adams allowed himself to be bought by the Turkish government and wealthy businessmen for nearly a decade, starting when he was Brooklyn borough president.
He’s accused of accepting more than $100,000 worth of business class air travel to countries including Turkey, Ghana, France, and India, luxury hotel stays, meals, and transport, and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals funneled through U.S. donors.
Adams squeezed the secret Turkish donations for more cash through the city Campaign Finance Board’s matching public funds program and included them in a tainted pot of $10 million in contributions falsely certified as legally raised in 2021, prosecutors allege.
In exchange, he threw his weight around for his benefactors, the feds say, promoting Turkish government and business interests in the city, including pressuring FDNY officials to bypass safety checks to hurriedly open Turkey’s 36-story consulate by the U.N. in time for the president’s visit.
In his bid to toss the bribery count, Adams’ lawyer cited a recent Supreme Court decision that loosened up public corruption laws by finding it illegal for officials to accept bribes before taking action but OK to accept “gratuities” after the fact.
Spiro said the luxury travel benefits the mayor received were equivalent to gratuities and described his involvement in the consulate’s opening as “normal and perfectly lawful.” He threw Adams’ Turkish liaison-turned-government informant, Rana Abbasova, under the bus in another part of Monday’s filing, claiming the case is based on her lies.
Abbasova is among at least a dozen senior Adams staffers, past and current, enveloped in swirling criminal investigations into his office by state and federal prosecutors, leading to a steady drumbeat of high-profile resignations in recent weeks. On Monday, his embattled senior adviser, Tim Pearson, became the latest to hand in his resignation letter.