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A lawyer for Mayor Eric Adams argued in court documents that Damian Williams, the former federal prosecutor who charged the mayor with bribery, had brought the case for his own political benefit.
Jan. 19, 2025, 12:41 p.m. ET
A day after Mayor Eric Adams visited President-elect Donald J. Trump in Florida, his lawyer filed court papers in the mayor’s federal corruption case arguing that the former prosecutor who brought the case was trying to advance his own political career.
The lawyer, Alex Spiro, wrote a letter on Saturday to the judge overseeing the case, arguing that a recent opinion article by the former prosecutor, Damian Williams, could prejudice the jury pool against Mr. Adams and was part of Mr. Williams’s plan to run for mayor or another political office.
“The conclusion here is inevitable,” Mr. Spiro said. “Mr. Williams brought a meritless case against a political rival to bolster his own immediate candidacy for office, potentially including mayor of New York.”
Mr. Williams announced the indictment against Mr. Adams in September, when he was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York; he resigned in mid-December. He argued in the opinion article, published last week in City & State, that the city was in “deep crisis” and was “being led with a broken ethical compass.”
The piece did not directly mention the prosecution of Mr. Adams. But its publication, along with a new website highlighting Mr. Williams’s achievements, got New York’s political world buzzing, with some wondering whether he might run for office, most likely governor.
Mr. Williams did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the Southern District, declined to comment.
