Senior officials from the U.S. Department of Justice held discussions with federal prosecutors in Manhattan about the possibility of withdrawing their case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to the New York Times.
The talks are related to five counts of corruption, including bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign contributions after an investigation that began in 2021. The mayor, who was indicted in September, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Adams' defense team is headed by Alex Spiro, who is also the personal lawyer for Elon Musk.
The Times reports that if pardoned, Adams could help Trump implement mass deportations in the city while also clearing the way for the mayor's campaign for the second term in office. Trump has previously said he thought Adams was treated unfairly and would consider pardoning the mayor.
Meanwhile, Spiro denied rumors that Mayor Adams plans to resign, according to the Daily News.
"He is not resigning," Spiro told reporters on Wednesday outside the Manhattan Federal Court after a confidential discovery hearing in the mayor's corruption case. "Completely false."
Spiro was responding to a rumor that surfaced Tuesday night from Sal Albanese, a former City Council member and 2017 mayoral candidate, according to AM New York.
“A usually good source tells me @NYCMayor is cutting a deal with Feds & resigning in 72 hours,” Albanese wrote. “This guy has been reliable in past, but who knows.”
According to CBS, Adams met the president in Florida before his inauguration. However, he denied discussing his legal battles.
"To be clear, we did not discuss my legal case, and those who suggest the mayor of the largest city in the nation shouldn't meet with the incoming president to discuss our city's priorities because of inaccurate speculation or because we're from different parties clearly care more about politics than people," he told CBS.
The mayor skipped planned Martin Luther King Day celebration appearances in New York and instead headed last minute to Trump's inauguration. Although other Democrats criticized the move, Adams said presidential inauguration was a "sacred American tradition" that required leaders to put their party's interests aside and unite for the common purpose to serve the American people.
