In Adams Indictment, Legal Experts See Strengths, Potential Pitfalls

For nearly a year, federal prosecutors have closed in on Mayor Eric Adams of New York, seizing his phones and searching the homes of his aides in moves that suggested they might take the extraordinary step of charging him while he still held office.

Last week they followed through, unveiling a 57-page indictment that accused Mr. Adams of bribery, conspiracy, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations from the Turkish government.

It is in some ways a straightforward case that draws on what appears to be solid evidence. But it also contains potential pitfalls that make it seem likely that the prosecutors will seek to bring additional charges in the weeks or months to come, according to interviews with a dozen former federal prosecutors, defense lawyers and law professors who reviewed the indictment.

Mr. Adams, 64, has strenuously denied any wrongdoing and said he would fight the charges “with every ounce of my strength, and my spirit.” On Friday, he pleaded not guilty in Federal District Court.

Perhaps the strongest part of the case against Mr. Adams — brought by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York — involves the charges related to the foreign donations, the experts said.

Those appear to be supported by years of communications between Mr. Adams and others, as well as documentation of what the prosecutors called a straw donor scheme, in which Turkish government officials and businesspeople arranged to reimburse donors for contributions to Mr. Adams’s campaign.