Adams’ legal team is filing a motion to dismiss part of the federal criminal case

Lawyers for Eric Adams on Monday asked a federal judge to throw out part of the New York mayor’s corruption case – insisting that Hizzoner did not take bribes as he pushed FDNY leadership to expedite the opening of a Turkish high-rise.

The quickly filed motion argues that one of the five criminal charges against Adams – bribery – should be dismissed less than a week after a federal grand jury handed down the bomb indictment.

Adams’ defense team also called the rest of the case filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan “meritless” and attacked former aide Rana Abbasova, who is expected to serve as the FBI agents’ key witness.

“Despite the fact that the indictment reproduces quotes from messages, emails and conversations on numerous other matters, it does not allege any specific exchange or conversations in which Adams and the Turkish official entered into this alleged quid pro quo agreement,” his legal team wrote, At the same time, he referred to a recent US Supreme Court decision that has weakened anti-corruption laws.

Federal prosecutors accuse Adams, as de facto elected mayor, of pressuring the fire department to open a new 36-story Turkish consulate building in September 2021 without a fire inspection in exchange for free and heavily discounted luxury travel perks.

The indictment includes messages between Adams and the then-FDNY commissioner and details of swank flight upgrades and luxury hotel suite stays that Hizzoner received from Turkish supporters dating back to 2016.

The bribery charge, which the defense is seeking to drop, accuses Adams of accepting the bribes for luxury trips in 2021 and 2022 in exchange for leaning on the FDNY to push through the Turkish House of Representatives despite fire safety concerns .

Adams is also accused of encouraging Turkish benefactors to funnel money into his 2021 election campaign through illegal “straw donations” and of fraudulently obtaining $10 million in public campaign funds.

The first-term mayor has denied any wrongdoing and vowed to fight the case. He also resisted increasing calls for his resignation following the indictment.

The next hearing in the case, which has been assigned to District Judge Dale Ho, is scheduled for Wednesday.

Adams’ attorneys, including prominent attorney Alex Spiro, said in court documents Monday that the U.S. Attorney’s Office failed to show that Adams specifically agreed to accept a gift in exchange for exercising his government power, describing the allegations as ” vague”.

The texts sent by Adams calling on then-FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro to ensure that the Turkish Tower is opened in time for a visit by the Turkish president are merely “harmless” messages that do not amount to anything as “official acts” is required The lawyers claimed they were making a bribery allegation.

The motion argued that since Adams was only Brooklyn Borough President at the time, he did not have the authority to order the FDNY to take action regarding the Manhattan building.

The former NYPD captain had won the Democratic primary for mayor months earlier and was expected to easily win the November general election against Republican Curtis Sliwa.

“The government is effectively alleging that Adams used his potential future position as mayor to pressure public officials, rather than the official position he actually held,” the motion states.

“No precedent supports the notion that a candidate for office commits an official act by using her potential future powers to pressure a public official to take action.”

His lawyers also argued that allegations that he received travel benefits during a trip to Ghana after the glossy skyscraper opened could merely constitute “tips,” which they said did not fall within the scope of bribery laws.

The filing accuses prosecutors of attempting to criminalize “routine interactions of government officials” and claims the indictment “replaces moderate ethics rules with the ruthless rigor of federal criminal law.”

Adams’ lawyers called the remaining criminal charges “equally baseless” and argued that they were all based on “false allegations” by a “self-serving employee with an ax to grind,” citing Abbasova, a former employee and Turkish law enforcement liaison Community.

Sources told the Post that Abbasova was cooperating with authorities and was a key witness.

Adams’ lawyers presented no evidence to support their arguments against her – they simply claimed that “more will come to light as the litigation progresses.”