Attorney for Adams seeks bribery dismissal

In the words of Mayor Eric Adams’ attorney, the government has no case.

“It defies all logic. It defies common sense. And it isn’t true,” Alex Spiro said Monday.

Just days after federal prosecutors unveiled a five-count indictment against Adams, charging him with conspiracy, soliciting foreign donations, wire fraud and bribery, the mayor’s high-powered attorney is trying to get one of those charges dismissed.

Bribery.

“Gratuities are not federal crimes,” Spiro said. “Courtesies to politicians are not federal crimes.”

In papers filed in federal court on Monday, the mayor’s lawyer argued his actions did not meet official federal bribery standards. His attempts to persuade the FDNY to approve a fire safety plan for the Turkish consulate had nothing to do with any benefits he received from Turkish airlines or other Turkish nationals, the attorney said.

Spiro gave a preview of his defense of Adams at his Manhattan office Monday — months before any trial might occur.

He claimed the mayor did not have to disclose those fancy upgrades on Turkish airlines.

“They didn’t bother to check this, but the truth is you don’t have to disclose upgrades,” Spiro said,

NY1 touched base with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board. Officials must disclose gifts valued at $1,000 or more.

Adams repeatedly did not do that on his annual disclosure forms.

“I am not an expert in conflict of interest board law,” Spiro said. “We have experts that weigh in on these things and so does he. It is certainly not a violation of criminal law or federal criminal law. It’s not even close “

Spiro went after federal prosecutors for leaking information to the press, and said their main witness, former Adams liaison to the Turkish community Rana Abbasova, is an aggrieved staffer with an ax to grind.

“As for the mayor’s counsel and whatever he may have said I haven’t seen those remarks and I have no comment,” Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at an unrelated event. “Anything we say from here on out will be in our court filings.”

While Adams’ team may say it’s a weak case, other legal experts disagree.

“Straw donors are illegal. And foreign donations are illegal,” said Richard Briffault of Columbia Law School. “The last one is you do have to link up all the benefits he is getting from the Turks and the Turkish airlines with the thing he did “