Mayor Adams’ lead defense lawyer Alex Spiro has unfairly tried to skew public opinion with public statements — including a claim the case was political payback for the mayor’s criticism of President Biden, prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office wrote in a court filing Thursday.
Prosecutors asked Judge Dale Ho to reprimand Adams’ team for violating court rules by publicly slamming the case as “not real,” attacking witnesses’ credibility and claiming the case was politically motivated by Adams’ criticism of Biden over the migrant crisis.
“Rather than test those allegations in a court of law where, for example, he would have to grapple with the true timeline of the investigation or the multitude of witnesses and electronic data supporting the charges in the Indictment, defense counsel has instead chosen to litigate this case in press statements, where he can simply pretend certain facts do not exist,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Edward Kim wrote in a Thursday evening filing.
Kim noted that while Spiro has been very outspoken about parts the of case and its witnesses outside of the courtroom, the legal team has not made those same arguments in court.
Adams himself has repeatedly claimed his case was retribution for his criticism of Biden over the influx of migrants from the southern border for the past two years.
“As defense counsel knows… the Government’s investigation of the defendant’s criminal conduct began in 2021, well before the defendant took these particular positions (or was even elected Mayor), and was based on concrete evidence that the defendant’s campaign sought and received illegal campaign contributions,” Kim wrote.
Spiro has been outspoken against the case and even made fun of prosecutors for holding a “little” press conference about the indictment when it was first unsealed in September.
In their filing, prosecutors wrote Spiro’s comments claiming the case “isn’t even a real case” and that prosecutors are “trying to manipulate and fool and taint” the public to “tarnish” Adams were false and baseless.
Kim argued those statements were attempts to sway public opinion.
“There are multiple witnesses who will expressly implicate the defendant in criminal conduct,” Kim wrote, citing discovery materials provided to the defense, adding “each of whom is corroborated by electronic communications and other data obtained from over 50 cellphones and other electronic devices and accounts.”
Kim also said Spiro has made false statements about Rana Abbasova, a former Adams aide who is expected to be a witness in the case, which he argues is disproven by a “raft” of evidence.
Spiro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.