【中美创新时报2024 年 9 月 28 日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）纽约市长埃里克·亚当斯周五对联邦贿赂指控不认罪，坚决否认他接受海外旅行、竞选资金和其他外国利益集团的津贴以利用他的影响力的指控。美联社记者杰克·奥芬哈茨和迈克尔·西萨克（JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK）对此作了下述报道。
亚当斯的律师告诉法官，他们将于下周采取行动驳回此案，该案在经过数月的调查、搜查和传票后，已在美国最大的城市引起轩然大波。这位第一任期的民主党人坚称自己没有做错任何事，并发誓要继续任职，拒绝了越来越多的要求他辞职的呼声。
亚当斯曾是一名警长，他在挤满人的曼哈顿法庭上认罪。法庭距离市政厅仅几步之遥，可以一览整个城市的风景。
亚当斯在美国地方法院法官凯瑟琳·帕克面前出庭受审。此前一天，检察官公布了一份起诉书，指控他从与土耳其有关的人那里收取了 10 万美元的机票和豪华酒店套房住宿费，并通过非法捐款为竞选市长提供资金，这些捐款帮助他获得了超过 1000 万美元的公共竞选资金。
“法官大人，我无罪，”亚当斯严肃地看着法官说。
亚当斯被释放，条件是他不得联系起诉书中描述的任何证人或人员。检察官表示，他们将向他的律师提供一份名单。市长被允许与他的家人和工作人员交谈——但不能谈论与指控有关的任何内容。
亚当斯没有发表评论就离开了法庭。他对一名法庭官员微笑，但无视他离开时遇到的一排记者。之后，亚当斯默默地站在法院外面，而他的律师亚历克斯·斯皮罗则向一群摄像机和旁观者猛烈抨击这些指控，他们互相高呼“释放埃里克！”和“把他关起来！”
“这甚至不是一个真正的案件。这是航空公司升级腐败案，”斯皮罗说。
然而，即使市长出现在法庭上，对他政府的调查仍在继续。
亚当斯最亲密的市政厅顾问之一英格丽德·刘易斯-马丁周五在机场下飞机后，美国检察官办公室和曼哈顿地区检察官办公室的调查人员会见了她。联邦调查人员向她发出了传票。据她的律师亚瑟·艾达拉说，当地检察官没收了她的手机并搜查了她的房子。
“她将全力配合所有调查，据我们所知，刘易斯女士不是任何案件的目标，”艾达拉说。
64 岁的亚当斯将于周三回到法庭，与美国地区法官戴尔·E·何（Dale E. Ho）进行会谈，后者将负责审理此案。
在法庭上，亚当斯双手交叉放在膝盖上，表情严肃，大约 18 分钟，帕克大声宣读指控，她坚定的语气凸显了案件的严重性。
亚当斯被控五项罪名：电信欺诈、贿赂、共谋，以及两项接受外国人竞选捐款的罪名。联邦检察官表示，如果最严重的罪名电信欺诈罪名成立，他将面临最高 20 年的监禁。
亚当斯以维护中产阶级法律秩序的斗士身份一举上任，他被指控利用与一名土耳其官员长达数年的关系谋取个人和政治利益，这种关系可以追溯到他担任布鲁克林区区长期间，并且没有在披露表格上披露这些纠葛。
除其他事项外，亚当斯还被指控允许该官员和其他人为他提供前往法国、中国、斯里兰卡、印度、匈牙利、加纳和土耳其等地的豪华住宿，包括有价值的商务舱升级、高端餐饮，甚至还有一次土耳其浴室之旅。检察官称，这些福利总价值超过 10 万美元。
亚当斯还被指控与土耳其商人和其他人合谋将非法外国捐款输送到他的政治竞选活动中，部分是通过没有实际捐款的空头捐赠者。法律禁止非美国公民向美国政治候选人捐款。
作为回报，亚当斯据称为他的赞助人提供了好处，包括 2021 年 9 月，当时，在即将当选市长之际，检察官称他帮助确保土耳其在曼哈顿新建的外交大楼不会接受消防检查，而消防检查肯定会失败。起诉书称，有一次，一名土耳其官员称赞他是“土耳其真正的朋友”。据称亚当斯回答说：“是的，更是你真正的朋友。你是我的兄弟。”
斯皮罗是一位备受推崇的辩护律师，他的过去和现在的客户名单包括埃隆·马斯克、亚历克·鲍德温和杰斯。他说，民选官员接受一些旅行津贴既不罕见也不不当。市长否认曾故意接受非法竞选捐款，并表示他为人们处理城市官僚机构提供的任何帮助都只是履行职责的一部分。
到目前为止，亚当斯已经顶住了要求她辞职的呼声，包括众议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥·科尔特斯、明年 6 月市长初选中的潜在民主党挑战者以及一些共和党人。参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默和众议院民主党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯等民主党高层人士没有要求亚当斯辞职，称应允许法律程序顺利进行。
有权罢免亚当斯的民主党州长凯西·霍楚尔也没有要求亚当斯辞职。但她似乎向这位她经常描绘为亲密盟友的市长发出了警告，她在一份声明中表示，她正在审查自己的“选择和义务”，并希望“市长在接下来的几天里审查情况，找到一条合适的前进道路，确保纽约市的人民得到领导人的良好服务。”
题图：纽约市长埃里克·亚当斯周五在纽约出庭后离开曼哈顿联邦法院。Yuki Iwamura/美联社
附原英文报道：
New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleads not guilty to taking bribes and illegal campaign contributions
By JAKE OFFENHARTZ and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press,Updated September 27, 2024
New York City mayor Eric Adams left Manhattan federal court after an appearance Friday in New York.Yuki Iwamura/Associated Press
NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty Friday to federal bribery charges, firmly rejecting allegations that he accepted overseas travel, campaign cash, and other perks from foreign interests seeking to harness his influence.
Adams’s lawyer told a judge that they would move next week to dismiss the case, which has roiled the biggest US city after months of investigations, searches, and subpoenas. The first-term Democrat maintains he did nothing wrong and has vowed to stay in office, rebuffing growing calls for him to quit.
Adams, a former police captain, entered the plea in a packed Manhattan courtroom that’s just a short walk from City Hall and has sweeping views of the city.
His appearance, before US Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker, came a day after prosecutors revealed an indictment accusing him of taking $100,000 in flights and stays in opulent hotel suites from people tied to Turkey, and fueling his run for mayor with illegal donations that helped him qualify for more than $10 million in public campaign funds.
“I am not guilty, your honor,” Adams said, looking solemnly at the judge.
Adams was released on the condition that he not contact any witnesses or people described in the indictment. Prosecutors said they would provide his lawyer with a list of names. The mayor is allowed to speak with members of his family and staff — but not about anything pertaining to the allegations.
Adams left the courtroom without commenting. He smiled at a court officer but ignored the rows of reporters he passed on his way out. Afterward, Adams stood silently outside the courthouse while his lawyer, Alex Spiro, railed against the charges to a crowd of cameras and onlookers who exchanged shouts of “Free Eric!” and “Lock him up!”
“This isn’t even a real case. This is the airline upgrade corruption case,” Spiro said.
Yet even as the mayor appeared in court, the investigation into his administration continued.
One of Adams’ closest City Hall advisers, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, was met at the airport Friday by investigators from the US attorney’s office and Manhattan district attorney’s office after she got off flight from Japan. The federal investigators served her with a subpoena. The local prosecutors took her phones and searched her house, according to her lawyer, Arthur Aidala.
“She will cooperate fully with any and all investigations and Ms. Lewis is not the target of any case of which we are aware,” Aidala said.
Adams, 64, is due back in court Wednesday for a conference before US District Judge Dale E. Ho, who will preside over the case going forward.
In court for about 18 minutes, Adams sat stoically with his hands folded in his lap as Parker read the charges aloud, her sturdy delivery underscoring the gravity of the case.
Adams is charged with five counts: wire fraud, bribery, conspiracy, and two counts of receiving campaign contributions from a foreign national. If convicted of the most serious charge, wire fraud, he faces up to 20 years in prison, federal prosecutors said.
Adams, who soared to office as a law-and-order champion of the middle class, is accused of exploiting a yearslong relationship with a Turkish official dating to his time as Brooklyn borough president for personal and political gain, and failing to divulge those entanglements on disclosure forms.
Among other things, Adams is accused of allowing the official and others to shower him with luxury accommodations to places like France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, Ghana, and Turkey, including valuable business-class upgrades, high-end meals and even a trip to a Turkish bath. All told, prosecutors say the perks were worth more than $100,000.
Adams is also accused of conspiring with Turkish businessmen and others to funnel illegal foreign donations to his political campaigns, partly by routing them through straw donors who hadn’t actually contributed the money. People who aren’t US citizens are banned by law from donating to US political candidates.
In return, Adams allegedly did favors for his patrons, including in September 2021 when, on the verge of being elected mayor, prosecutors say he helped ensure that Turkey’s newly built diplomatic tower in Manhattan wouldn’t be subject to a fire inspection, which it was certain to fail. At one point, a Turkish official praised him as a “true friend of Turkey,” according to the indictment. Adams allegedly responded: “Yes even more a true friend of yours. You are my brother.”
Spiro, a vaunted defense lawyer whose roster of past and present clients includes Elon Musk, Alec Baldwin, and Jay-Z, said it was neither unusual nor improper for an elected official to accept some travel perks. The mayor has denied ever knowingly accepting an illegal campaign contribution and said any help he gave people navigating city bureaucracy was just part of doing his job.
Adams has so far weathered calls to resign, including from Representative Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, potential Democratic challengers in next June’s mayoral primary, and some Republicans. Top Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries have not asked Adams to resign, saying the legal process should be allowed to play out.
Governor Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has the power to remove Adams from office, also did not call on Adams to resign. But she appeared to issue a warning to a mayor she has often portrayed as a close ally, saying in a statement that she was reviewing her “options and obligations” and expects “the mayor to take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure the people of New York City are being well-served by their leaders.”
