George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley on Friday laid out several defenses at Democratic New York Mayor Eric Adams' disposal to fight fraud and bribery charges brought against him in a federal indictment. He said he is doing so.
The Southern District of New York filed a 57-page document alleging that Adams “sought and received unjust and valuable benefits” from wealthy foreigners and at least one Turkish government official while a Brooklyn borough president and mayoral candidate. A federal indictment has been issued. Turley said on “Fox & Friends” that there isn't “much in there” in the indictment, arguing that it's “not what meets the eye.”
“When you start looking into these charges, there's certainly not much that meets the eye,” Turley said. “For example, it is said that there was a quid pro quo in which the mayor intervened to expedite the fire inspection approval process for the Turkish consulate, but look, you could say that's the mayor's job. There's a lot of diplomacy here. The president's defense is that there is no quid pro quo here because it is a city with a government official and we want to avoid any diplomatic issues involving the arrival of the country's president.
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While serving as Brooklyn Borough President, Mr. Adams directed the New York City Fire Department through the process of approving the construction of a Turkish consulate without a fire inspection in exchange for free or discounted trips by Turkish nationals to several international destinations. He is said to have pressured her to accelerate. people, According to Until the indictment. Turkish officials allegedly sent straw donations to Adams' mayoral campaign.
According to the indictment, Adams allegedly failed to disclose travel allowances in his annual financial disclosures. (Related: CNN's Ellie Honig reveals evidence prosecutors will use in attempt to convict Eric Adams)
“The most damaging thing is probably the allegation of soliciting foreign donations, but he has made it clear that most of the $100,000 was for hotel upgrades and that it doesn't make him look good. We need to determine how much they knew,” Turley said. “But the biggest problem he's going to face is that yesterday the U.S. Attorney's Office was very aggressive and basically told people around him, 'We're going to indict other people, so if you cooperate, we're going to indict others. And they know that these witnesses are going to be very harmful in front of the jury, so they're trying to sue his friends. .”
Adams is charged with “conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and receiving campaign contributions from foreign persons,” as well as one count of wire fraud, two counts of solicitation of foreign contributions, and one count of bribery. There is. says the indictment.
New York's mayor said Thursday that the charges are part of a retaliation for President Joe Biden's criticism of his “broken immigration policies.”
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