New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been given an April 2025 trial date as his lawyers fight to have bribery charges thrown out.

NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ federal corruption trial will begin next April, a judge ruled Friday, in the midst of his promised re-election campaign.

U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho set the trial date as Adams returned to Manhattan federal court for a hearing on his motion to strike a key charge in the indictment that threatens his political future.

Ho said he was confident the April 21, 2025 date would remain, “provided nothing unexpected happens.”

At the same time, prosecutors said they still had not uncovered a potentially important piece of evidence: Adams’ personal cellphone. According to the indictment, Adams changed his password just before turning the phone over to authorities and then said he forgot it.

Adams’ lawyers are fighting to dismiss a bribery charge, one of five charges against the first-term Democrat.

They argue that the charge does not fit the U.S. Supreme Court’s newly narrowed category of crimes and should not apply to Adams because it includes allegations dating back to before he became mayor.

“The United States Attorney has failed to determine what the ‘quo’ is here,” said Adams’ attorney John Bash, referring to “quid pro quo,” a Latin phrase meaning “something for something.”

Prosecutors countered that Adams’ lawyers were being devious because they alleged Adams accepted bribes and exerted influence in his previous elected office and in his bid to become mayor.

Ho said he would take the arguments “under consideration and try to make a decision as soon as possible.”

The indictment, which also includes wire fraud and conspiracy charges, accuses Adams of agreeing to $100,000 worth of upgrades and other luxury travel benefits and making illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign citizens who want to buy his influence.

In exchange, prosecutors say, Adams performed favors for the Turkish government, including pressuring the fire department in 2021 to approve the opening of a consulate it deemed unsafe.

At the time, Adams held another elected position, Brooklyn borough president, but by then it was clear that he would become mayor.

Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges and vowed to remain in office while he prepares his legal defense.

Bash said the alleged benefits did not meet the legal definition of bribery because they predate his tenure as mayor and “have nothing to do with his position in government.”

Adams’ lawyers argue that prosecutors are seeking to criminalize “normal and perfectly legal actions” Adams took as Brooklyn borough president before he was elected mayor.

By law, prosecutors must prove that Adams accepted bribes in exchange for using his position to exert influence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten argued that Adams knew he was “entering into business dealings” with his Turkish benefactors and that his role as borough president “puts him in the same room as the fire commissioner.”

Ho wondered if it was not Adams’ job as borough president, but Adams’ upcoming move to City Hall that gave him the opportunity to put pressure on the fire department.

“It seems a little strange when the jurisdictional connection here is that he was the borough president of Brooklyn, but his ability to exert pressure comes from something else,” Ho said.

Scotten stood firm, arguing that “if Margot Robbie called him and was really convincing,” the Barbie actor and producer still wouldn’t be able to influence the fire department without holding elected office.

“He probably would have answered that call,” Ho joked, drawing laughter from the courtroom.

Pointing out the inconsistency of the law (campaign donations are legal, but bribes are not), Bash argues that it would be perfectly normal for a government official to pressure a casino licensing board on behalf of a campaign donor.

“General consent to help is not a federal crime,” Bash said.

Adams sat stoically for most of the two-hour hearing, but perked up just before Ho set a trial date – nodding emphatically as another of his lawyers, Alex Spiro, warned that the trial, coinciding with the Democratic primary, was next June, there will be “serious serious democratic concerns.”

Scotten said at a hearing last month that prosecutors are conducting “multiple related investigations” and that it is “very likely” they will seek a superseded indictment charging Adams with additional crimes. Scotten also said it is “likely” that other defendants will be charged.

Prosecutors said Friday that they had searched nearly two dozen electronic devices seized during the investigation, but still had not been able to gain access to Adams’ cellphone and were unsure what they would get.

Late Thursday, Ho rejected another defense attempt to weaken the case, rejecting Adams’ request for a hearing on the mayor’s allegations that the government was leaking information about the investigation to the media.

The judge ruled that Adams and his lawyers had failed to substantiate these claims and that if any leaks occurred, the blame lay with the government.

In court papers laying out their arguments, Adams’ lawyers said the years of upgrades and other benefits the mayor received were at best “classic gratuities,” which recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings have determined are not covered by the law. about bribery, if they were given for According to the documents, past actions.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors responded that Adams’ actions were clearly criminal.

“It should be clear from the indictment that there is nothing ordinary about a government official receiving more than $100,000 in benefits from a foreign diplomat that he took great pains to conceal, including by fabricating false documents to create the illusion payment. “, prosecutors wrote.

Several of Adams’s closest aides, including the police commissioner, the schools chancellor and several deputy mayors, resigned in recent months after federal investigators conducted coordinated searches of their homes in early September.

Adams maintains he can continue to lead the city effectively while fighting the charges.

But his political future remains uncertain, and several opponents have announced plans to challenge him in next year’s mayoral primary.

Earlier this week, Adams raised eyebrows after he repeatedly refused to criticize former President Donald Trump, refusing to say when he last spoke to the Republican nominee or whether he asked for a pardon if Trump wins re-election.