New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) pleaded not guilty to federal bribery and wire fraud charges in court on Friday.
Adams became the first New York mayor to face federal charges when the Department of Justice handed down a 57-page, five-count indictment against him that was unsealed on Thursday.
Adams swiftly defended himself, saying in a chaotic press conference on Thursday that the charges were based on “lies” and would not distract him from his job running the city.
“He’s innocent,” an attorney for the mayor, Alex Spiro, said at a press conference on Friday outside a lower Manhattan courthouse after Adams entered his plea and was released.
“Next week, we’ll be filing a motion to dismiss. We expect these charges to be dismissed,” Spiro added.
He argued that the “entire body of evidence” in the case is one unnamed staffer who “lied” about Adams’ knowledge of the activities contained in the indictment, and said that the government could produce evidence that…