Federal prosecutors allege they have uncovered “additional criminal conduct” by New York Mayor Eric Adams ahead of his scheduled trial in April.
Adams, 64, was charged in September with five criminal counts, including bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national.
In court documents filed Monday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York said that “law enforcement has continued to identify additional individuals involved in Adams’s conduct, and to uncover additional criminal conduct by Adams,” as part of the ongoing investigation.
At a news conference Tuesday, Adams criticized the investigation.
“Even Ray Charles can see what’s going on,” Adams said, referring to the late artist, who was blind. “And I have an attorney, Alex Spiro, who is handling that. I’ve said over and over again: I’ve done nothing wrong.”
Spiro slammed the government’s latest filing, saying that “this is amateur hour” and accusing prosecutors of “just looking for a headline instead of doing the right thing.”
The prosecutors’ filing was in response to Adams’ request for a bill of particulars, meaning more details about the charges and why he is being accused.
The government pushed back against his request, arguing that revealing a list of alleged co-conspirators “would prejudice the ongoing investigation” and could lead to potential witness tampering.
“The Indictment provides ample cause to believe that as potential witnesses became known to Adams and his allies, measures were taken to influence their testimony,” prosecutors said in Monday’s filing, citing the initial indictment. “And even without a likelihood of physical violence, the threat of witness tampering further supports denial of a bill of particulars in a white-collar case.”
Prosecutors didn’t include details about the allegations of additional criminal conduct or others involved in Monday’s filing.
However, the government said at a court hearing in October that additional charges against Adams were “possible” and that it was “likely” that additional defendants would be charged in the corruption case.
Adams, a New York City police captain, has pleaded not guilty. He is the first sitting New York City mayor to be indicted on criminal charges in the modern era.
