Evening Roundup: Feds Seek 15 Year Sentence for Bob Menendez and Mayor Adams’ Year Ahead

Janae Pierre: Welcome to NYC NOW, your source for local news in and around New York City from WNYC. I'm Janae Pierre.

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Janae Pierre: Federal prosecutors are recommending a 15-year prison sentence for former US senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey following his conviction on corruption charges. Menendez was found guilty on 16 counts of engaging in what the government called "a foreign influence scheme of rare gravity." Prosecutors say the former chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee traded political favors in exchange for bribes, including cash and gold bars.

He in turn expedited financial aid and military equipment sales to the government of Egypt. Attorneys from Menendez did not immediately return a request for comment.

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Janae Pierre: In New York City, Mayor Eric Adams gave his State of the City address this week amid his fight against federal corruption charges. A look at the mayor's year ahead after the break.

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Janae Pierre: On Thursday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams held his fourth and potentially final State of the City address at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. In it, the mayor laid out several new plans. This comes amid mounting legal troubles for Adams and political scrutiny from his own party as he prepares for a reelection bid. Joining me to help unpack what's at stake for Mayor Adams this year is WNYC's City Hall reporter, Elizabeth Kim.

Let's start with the state of the city. Mayor Adams highlighted initiatives like his housing plan and tax cuts for low-income New Yorkers. Liz, how are those efforts being received? Also, I'm wondering, do they help shift focus away from his legal troubles at all?

Elizabeth Kim: It's still too early to say how the public will respond to these ideas, but I would say that the policies that he spoke about this week do speak to the ongoing concern that it is getting too expensive to live in this city. There's not enough housing, and poor people especially are being priced out. At the same time, the other open policy question when it comes to voters and Adams is crime. Has the mayor done enough to address crime?

Now, crime has gone down since Adams started, although it's still higher than under his predecessor. High-profile crimes, in particular, those in the subway, for example, are continuingly leaving New Yorkers concerned about safety in New York City. Now, the mayor is aware of that and he did propose $650 million towards street homelessness and mental health care. That goes to his argument that some of this crime involves people who are mentally unstable.

The mayor also wants Albany to pass a plan that he proposed to make it easier to forcibly hospitalize people living on the street who appear to be mentally ill. It's something that civil liberties experts and homeless advocates oppose, but again, that needs to be a change in state law.

Janae Pierre: The State of the City is an annual tradition for mayors, but obviously, this comes at a fraught time for Adams. What was he trying to accomplish with his performance at the Apollo?

Elizabeth Kim: Simply put, Janae, that he's not backing down. A lot of that goes back to this theme that we see time and again. Mayor Adams likes to present himself as a fighter. What he does is he likes to tie that fighting spirit back to the plight of working-class New Yorkers. He's a fighter, and they're fighters too. Here's something that he said near the end of his speech that got some applause.

Mayor Eric Adams: Challenging year, difficult year, and many thought we couldn't get through it as we continue with this amazing team to make it happen. There were some who said, "Step down." I said, "No, I'm going to step up. I'm going to step up."

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Elizabeth Kim: Throughout the speech, he's making nods to the criminal charges he's facing, as well as the pressure to resign. Adams has denied any wrongdoing, but he's going to have to fight not just in the court of law, but also in the court of public opinion.

Janae Pierre: Let's talk about those charges. Mayor Adams was indicted back in September on allegations of bribery and illegal campaign donations. Talk about where his federal case currently stands. Do you know anything more about the evidence that prosecutors have?

Elizabeth Kim: The trial is scheduled to take place in April, and we have learned a little bit more about what kind of case federal prosecutors are building. There was one major bombshell recently where prosecutors said in a court filing that they had uncovered "additional criminal conduct by Adams" and that they've also identified other individuals involved in crimes. Now, prior to that filing, there was another one where Adams's lawyers noted that a new witness had appeared before the grand jury.

Together, it suggests that prosecutors are preparing to bring additional charges against Adams, and it would be pretty devastating for the mayor. In terms of additional evidence, prosecutors have previously said that they have data from over 50 cell phones and they've executed 38 search warrants. One key piece of evidence that everyone is watching to see whether prosecutors will present is the contents of the mayor's cell phone.

If you remember, that was something that FBI agents seized from the mayor, but they weren't able to access the mayor's phone because the mayor said he changed the password and then promptly said he forgot it. We don't yet know whether they've gotten into that phone yet because in the last court filing, they didn't say.

Janae Pierre: Now, the mayor's indictment is on the front burner, but there's also a civil sexual assault lawsuit that's received less attention. What do we know about that case and how that shapes the public's perception of him as we move closer to the election?

Elizabeth Kim: I'm really glad you asked me about that, Janae, because the sexual assault lawsuit has really receded into the background, but it is moving along. Now, just to recap, more than a year ago, a former transit police colleague of Adams's filed a lawsuit against the mayor over an alleged sexual assault that she says happened in 1993 when they were both transit officers. She says the mayor offered to help her with her career, but that he demanded oral sex.

She says that when she said no, the mayor then forced her to touch his penis. Now, Adams has vigorously denied that any of this took place, but the case, like I said, it is moving along. The accuser has already sat for a deposition, and at some point, the mayor will have to sit for a deposition as well. He is being defended by city lawyers, and unlike the federal case, where the mayor has paid for a private attorney, taxpayers are paying for the mayor's legal bills because he is being represented by city lawyers.

In terms of public opinion, one thing I think the mayor has to worry about is that there are two former members of his inner circle, both of whom, like the mayor, had ties to the NYPD, who are also facing accusations of sexual misconduct. The most recent case involves Jeffrey Maddrey. He was the highest uniformed officer in the NYPD and a very close ally of the mayor. Last month, a woman who worked for him in the NYPD accused him of trading sex for overtime.

Maddrey, like the mayor, has denied the allegations and said the relationship was consensual, but he resigned, and he's been suspended. The accusations are now the subject of both city and federal investigations. There is a second case that involves Tim Pearson. That's a close friend of the mayor who was most recently his senior advisor. His accuser is also a former NYPD staffer who worked with him. She says that Pearson sexually harassed her and also offered to help her with her career in exchange for sexual favors.

We'll see if any of these claims are substantiated, but it just doesn't look good for the mayor to have these accusations, of course, be leveled at him, but also at his friends, because if one or both of his friends are found guilty, I think it's going to raise questions about the company that the mayor keeps.

Janae Pierre: Absolutely. There's been this ongoing speculation that Mayor Adams might be pardoned by President Donald Trump. What's behind that? Is that something Adams can bank on?

Elizabeth Kim: The chatter about a potential pardon from Trump goes back to weeks before the presidential election. Trump at one point publicly expressed his sympathy for the mayor's legal plight since he's been himself indicted multiple times, but last month, at Trump's first press conference as the presidential elect, he was asked directly whether he would pardon Adams, and he said he would consider it. In the meantime, we have Adams appearing to be very deferential to Trump, especially on the issue of immigration, where Trump has said that he would be in favor of mass deportations.

That's something that would affect a lot of New Yorkers. There's an estimated 400,000 undocumented immigrants in the city. Now, it's unclear what Trump will do. There's no guarantee, and it's certainly not a given, but it certainly will raise questions about anything the mayor says or does in respect to Trump and federal policies that affect New York City.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's City Hall reporter Elizabeth Kim.

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Janae Pierre: Thanks for listening to NYC NOW from WNYC, I'm Janae Pierre. Have a lovely weekend. We'll be back on Monday.

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