Eric Adams To Stand Trial On Corruption Charges in April, Judge Says

Accused of conspiring to funnel illegal contributions from Turkey into his campaign coffers, Mr. Adams has pleaded not guilty.

Mayor Eric Adams of New York City is scheduled to stand trial on corruption charges on April 21, a federal judge said at a hearing on Friday.

The judge, Dale E. Ho, also said that he would make a ruling at a later date on a request by Mr. Adams’s lawyers to throw out a bribery charge against him.

Mr. Adams became the first sitting mayor in modern New York City history to be criminally charged in late September, when prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York secured a five-count indictment against him.

Mr. Adams, who sat at a table between his lawyers on Friday throughout the two-hour court hearing, has pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Mr. Adams spent much of their time on Friday presenting arguments around the bribery charge.

Lawyers for Mr. Adams had argued that the prosecution’s case fell short of meeting the federal definition of bribery. They pointed to a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that raised the bar for prosecutors to bring corruption cases. Legal experts who reviewed the indictment against Mr. Adams have said that the ruling could present a challenge for prosecutors.