BREAKING: @nycmayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a grand jury on charges connected to a federal probe that has shaken... more

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Eric Adams’ girlfriend joined on $45K worth of luxe trips, accused of having ‘no-show’ DOE job​

By
Susan Edelman and

Deirdre Bardolf
Published Sep. 28, 2024, 10:26 a.m. ET
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Mayor Adams’ longtime girlfriend Tracey Collins, a highly paid “senior advisor” in the city Department of Education, joined Hizzoner on $45,000 worth of ritzy trips — and allegedly hasn’t shown up for work in nearly a year, according to complaints filed this week.
A former DOE teacher, principal and assistant superintendent, Collins, 61, is referred to as “Adams’ domestic partner” in the 57-page federal indictment unsealed against the mayor this week.
The Fort Lee, NJ, resident went on Adams’ trips to India, Hungary, Turkey, Jordan, Oman and Ghana starting in 2016, among other luxury jaunts, according to prosecutors who accuse the mayor of accepting travel perks worth up to $123,000.
Mayor Eric Adams and partner Tracey Collins watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade 5
Mayor Eric Adams’ longtime girlfriend Tracey Collins accompanied him on at least $45,000 worth of lavish trips and is now the subject of several ethics complaints, The Post has learned.Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Tracey Collins in formal attire arriving at the In America: An Anthology of Fashion themed Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art 5
Mayor Eric Adams and longtime partner Tracey Collins at the 2022 Met Gala, accepted lavish trips from a Turkish “promoter” starting in 2016, according to a federal indictment.REUTERS




On Friday, a former DOE employee filed complaints about Collins and her “no-show job” with DOE ethics officer Samantha Biletsky, the Conflicts of Interest Board, the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, and the city Department of Investigation, all questioning if she reported the luxury perks as required.

The employee also alleged Collins has rarely appeared in the office since November 2023, and her work calendar has remained empty.
Co-workers haven’t seen Collins, who makes $221,597 a year, in person since Thanksgiving, the ex-employee reported.

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“It is my understanding that DOE employees are only permitted to work from home two days a week,” the ex-employee, who previously worked in the same building as Collins, wrote in an email to Biletsky.
Investigators should look into Collins allegedly “accepting gifts in excess of 100K from a foreign government and not declaring said gifts on her Conflicts of Interest disclosure,” the complaint states.
Collins’ time and attendance records also must be examined to “verify that she put in for vacation while she took all of those illegal trips,” according to the complaint.
New York City mayor Eric Adams and his girlfriend Tracey Collins attending Serena Williams' victory at the 2022 US Open Tennis Championships 5
Collins joined Adams on trips to India, Hungary, Turkey and Ghana, buying some tickets herself, the indictment says.GC Images

In January 2018, Adams and Collins traveled to Budapest through Istanbul, according to the federal indictment against the mayor.
Several months earlier, Collins bought two economy-class tickets from Turkish Airlines for approximately $560 each, but received a free upgrade to business class worth more than $14,000 – the highest the airline offers – following a request by an Adams’ staffer, the document states.
The free and cut-rate travel was omitted from Adams’ 2018 Conflict of Interest Board disclosure form, the indictment states.

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All city officials and high-level employees must disclose any potential conflicts of interest to the COIB under the NYC Charter.
In January 2019, Collins bought an economy ticket for herself for a trip with Adams to Turkey, Jordan and Oman.
Her ticket was upgraded to a seat worth at least $7,000, prosecutors charge, while a staffer requested Adams’ upgrade separately, since it was bought through a Turkish entrepreneur, one who later became a senior staffer in his administration.
Chancellor of New York City Public Schools David C. Banks using a microphone to welcome students and families on the first day of school at PS 257 John F. Hylan in 2024. 5
NYC schools Chancellor David Banks promoted Collins to senior adviser to the deputy chancellor for school leadership in 2022.Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock
New York City Mayor Eric Adams and girlfriend Tracey Collins attending Serena Williams' victory on Day 1 of the US Open 2022 Tennis Championships 5
Collins, Mayor Adams’ longtime partner, is a DOE administrator who lives in Fort Lee, N.J.GC Images
An SCI spokesperson told The Post, “We are currently reviewing and evaluating the allegations.”
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The city Conflicts of Interest Board is “prohibited from commenting on the past conduct of a public servant until there is a final finding of a violation,” said COIB executive director Carolyn Lisa Miller.
 

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Mayor Adams asks court to dismiss bribery charge, says favors for Turkish government were legal​


New York City Mayor Eric Adams gives a thumbs-up sign outside Manhattan Federal Court.


Andrea Renault/Star Max/GC Images


By
Charles Lane
Published Sep 30, 2024 at 11:02 a.m. ET
Modified Sep 30, 2024 at 2:23 p.m. ET
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Less than a week into his federal corruption case, lawyers for Mayor Eric Adams filed a motion Monday to dismiss a charge that Adams accepted bribes from Turkish officials, citing a three-month-old Supreme Court decision that weakened federal enforcement of bribery.
Attorney Alex Spiro’s motion attempts to undermine federal prosecutors' argument that Adams accepted luxury travel in exchange for pressuring FDNY officials to allow a new Turkish consulate to open even while the 36-story skyscraper was riddled with dozens of safety defects.
"That extraordinarily vague allegation encompasses a wide array of normal and perfectly lawful acts that many city officials would undertake for the consulate of an important foreign nation, such as arranging meetings with regulators, offering advice about how to navigate the city’s bureaucracy, and referring diplomatic personnel to attorneys who specialize in regulatory affairs or building-code disputes," Spiro wrote.
The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York indicted Adams Thursday on federal charges including bribery, wire fraud and conspiracy. The indictment capped one of at least five investigations swirling around the mayor and members of his inner circle over the last year and a half.
In another possible probe, the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg — which first indicted Adams fundraisers in July 2023 — seized yet another Adams official’s phone Friday, the same day federal law enforcement served her a subpoena.
In Monday’s filing, Adams’ lawyers mocked federal prosecutors for doing a “makeover” of a previous investigation that was limited by the Supreme Court’s ruling in June, which allows government officials to accept gratuities for past acts. Gratuities are defined as gifts given to thank an official — but not directly in exchange for their help — or to “curry favor” without any specific request.

“Gratuities are not federal crimes,” Spiro told reporters on Monday. “Courtesies to politicians are not federal crimes. They do not violate federal rule. Congressmen get upgrades. They get corner suites, they get better tables at restaurants, they get free appetizers. They have their iced tea filled up. That's just what happens.”
Recent court decisions have made it increasingly difficult to convict government officials for corruption. In June, the Supreme Court ruled an official must carry out — or at least promise — an “official act” in exchange for a bribe, a definition that has narrowed over time. Setting up meetings, hosting events or answering questions on the phone wouldn't necessarily constitute a crime, judges have decided.
"Yet here goes the [Justice] Department again," Spiro wrote. "It appears that after years of casting about for something, anything, to support a federal charge against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, prosecutors had settled on a theory [about gratuities being criminal]."
But in light of the Supreme Court ruling, he wrote, prosecutors made vaguer allegations about a more serious accusation of bribery.
The argument rests on the assumption that the approval of the Turkish consulate’s permitting does not qualify as an official act.
Attorneys for former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin made a similar argument after he was indicted on federal bribery and fraud charges — an indictment that prompted his resignation — claiming that Benjamin never made “an explicit promise” or actually carried out an “official act” in exchange for campaign donations. A district judge agreed and dismissed the charges. But a higher court reinstated them earlier this year, and the case is ongoing.

Adams’ attorney said Friday outside of court that the Benjamin case — which is being prosecuted by the same office — is based on a “similar shaky theory.”
Still, the Southern District has had some success in federal bribery cases since the June Supreme Court decision. Over the summer, federal prosecutors convicted then-U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey. Menendez is currently appealing his conviction.
Adams’ 25-page filing describes the prosecutors who brought the case as “zealous” and repeatedly refers to their allegations as “vague.” It claims that he never took any regulatory action, either as Brooklyn borough president or as mayor, to benefit the Turkish House.
The motion also rebuts the government’s assertions about an illegal straw donor scheme, calling them “meritless because they rest on a host of false claims evidently attributable to a self-interested staffer with an axe to grind.”
Also on Monday, Adams added two more private lawyers to his legal team, bringing the total to three attorneys with the white shoe firm Quinn Emanuel.
Adams’ political fate arguably strengthened over the weekend. On Saturday, the Rev. Al Sharpton cautioned Gov. Kathy Hochul not to remove Adams from office, as the city charter permits her to do in the event of criminal charges.

Meanwhile, voters in East New York, Adams’ home base, told Gothamist they felt betrayed but still reserved judgment as the case proceeded.
Samantha Max contributed reporting.
Update: This story has been updated with an additional statement from Alex Spiro.
 

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Scandal-plagued Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, close Adams friend, resigns​

By
Joe Marino,

Craig McCarthy and

Matt Troutman
Published Oct. 7, 2024, 7:32 a.m. ET


Scandal-plagued Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks has resigned, succumbing to weeks of pressure amid federal probes that ensnared both him and his longtime friend Mayor Eric Adams, sources told The Post.
The resignation, which sources said was submitted Sunday night, is the latest high-profile departure from Adams’ administration — and is certain to raise further questions about whether the mayor himself can endure after his historic federal indictment.
Over the past few weeks, Adams has scrambled to convince embattled top administration officials to depart with Gov. Kathy Hochul pressuring the mayor to clean house.
Phil Banks, NYC Deputy Mayor hosts a panel discussion in City Hall Blue Room. 3
Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks had his home raided by the feds Sept. 4.Robert Miller
“We spoke yesterday and we spoke again this morning,” Adams said Monday morning on NY1 when asked about The Post report on Banks resignation.






“He stated that he wanted to transition to some other things with his life and he doesn’t want this to be a constant burden on the work that we are doing in the city and I accepted his resignation,” Hizzoner said.
“I wish my good friend well,” he added before praising his work in city government.
City Hall did not immediately respond for comment.

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Federal agents raided Banks’ home in Queens and seized his devices early Sept. 4.
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Banks had since resisted calls for his resignation, including from The Post’s editorial board, which have intensified amid the drip-drip of details about the federal probe.
Sources had told The Post that Banks had wanted to leave for months but after the federal raids, the deputy mayor wanted to stay on and fight. But it eventually became clear that stepping down would be best for Adams and the administration.
Firms said to be working with Terence Banks that scored public pilot deals include app-maker Saferwatch, IT companies Derive Technologies and SVAM International and grocery store delivery app Mercato, records show.
His resignation comes on the heels of his and Adams’ friend Tim Pearson, a retired NYPD inspector who served as a top aide to the mayor and oversaw migrant security contracts, also stepping down amid federal scrutiny.
The tumult comes as Adams faces five criminal counts in a bombshell federal indictment.
New York City mayor Eric Adams holds a press conference in the City Hall rotunda. 3
Mayor Eric Adams is a longtime friend of Banks.Stephen Yang
The feds’ investigation of Banks focused on whether he steered city contracts toward companies repped by his younger brother Terence’s consulting firm, which inked millions of dollars worth of deals with the city, sources have said.
Firms said to be working with Terence Banks that scored public contracts include app-maker Saferwatch, IT companies Derive Technologies and SVAM International and grocery store delivery app Mercato, records show.
The elder Banks and his brother are both regulars at swanky Manhattan nightclubs, insiders said.
Banks has long been a controversial and powerful figure in Adams’ administration.
As deputy mayor for public safety, Banks was viewed by many as akin to a shadow police commissioner. He repeatedly bypassed Adams’ first NYPD top cop Keechant Sewell, who grew so frustrated that she ultimately resigned, sources said.
And Banks also came with significant baggage from his own tenure within the NYPD. He had risen through the ranks to become chief of department, but abruptly resigned in 2014 before being promoted to first deputy commissioner.
At the time, Banks said he had left because he was unhappy with the promotion — but it was later revealed that he did so under federal scrutiny in a sweeping bribery scandal around Jona Rechnitz and Jeremy Reichberg, who paid off cops with hookers and jewelry.
The feds named Banks an unindicted co-conspirator and found his accounts had $300,000 in mystery transactions.
Mayor Eric Adams makes a public safety announcement with NYPD Commissioner Sewell and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phillip Banks at City Hall on Monday, April 3, 2023. 3
Adams hired Banks despite longstanding accusations of wrongdoing.Caroline Willis/Office of the Mayor
Despite the scandal, Adams hired Banks in 2022 to serve as deputy mayor for public safety — a post that hadn’t been filled by a mayor for three decades. The appointment also raised eyebrows because City Hall officials didn’t immediately request a waiver to hire Banks, who needed it to be eligible for his $252,000 salary while pulling an annual six-figure pension from his time as a cop.
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Adams defended the hiring of Banks — and others — against accusations of cronyism, saying he was tapping the “best people for the job.”
Banks’ tenure was marked by hostile interactions with reporters, questions about his rent-a-cop company landing an MTA contract and ties to Pearson, who scored a City Hall job despite his own troubled past.
 

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As Banks family departs City Hall, Mayor Adams’ closest allies take parting shots​


Schools Chancellor David Banks, Mayor Eric Adams, and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks sit at a table


Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office



By
Elizabeth Kim
and
Jon Campbell
Published Oct 7, 2024
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Less than two weeks ago, Mayor Eric Adams spoke in glowing terms about his relationship with a family that has, for better or worse, helped define his administration.
“The Banks family are my family,” Adams said. “These are not only good public servants, they're good human beings.”
Schools Chancellor David Banks and his then-partner, now-wife Sheena Wright, who is also Adams’ first deputy mayor, had been among the mayor’s first appointments. He tapped Phil Banks, David’s brother, as deputy mayor of public safety, despite scandals that marred his 27-year NYPD career.
Throughout their time in city government, Adams and his cadre of closest advisers — including the Banks family — have remained fiercely loyal to one another. The mayor stood by his allies as the feds encircled them in recent months, seizing their cell phones and subpoenaing them for information as part of multiple investigations.
But now, a string of departures that include both Banks brothers suggests the bonds may be breaking. David Banks was already scheduled to retire when Adams pushed his last day up. As of Friday, Wright is expected to step down, multiple sources told Gothamist. Next came Phil Banks’ resignation.
Even before Adams was indicted, Wright and David Banks had been expressing frustration with the mayor over policy matters, like the school’s chancellor’s attempt to implement a cell phone ban, according to several people close to senior City Hall officials who were not authorized to speak publicly.

More recently, according to one source, Wright had said she was upset that her husband's resignation was moved up.
Their departures have come as Gov. Kathy Hochul has been privately urging Adams to clean house.
“We expect changes,” Hochul told reporters last week. “That's not a secret and changes are beginning.”
On Monday, Politico reported that three more aides to the mayor were also departing. They include two people who have been under federal investigation: Winnie Greco, a senior adviser who served as a liaison with the Chinese community, and Rana Abbasova, an aide who helped connect Adams to the Turkish community.
But the hasty exits by those closest to the mayor have heightened rather than allayed the crisis at City Hall. They have also added up to distractions at a moment when Adams, who is facing federal corruption charges and a recent poll showing that nearly 70% of New Yorkers want him to step down, is trying to project that he is still in control.
“This is a steady drain that makes City Hall much weaker than it has been,” said George Arzt, who served as press secretary for former Mayor Ed Koch.

Adams’ split with former top aides and close confidants who are under federal scrutiny could also further imperil him, according to legal experts.
“If they are in jeopardy for their own conduct, one avenue is to try to cooperate and provide truthful information about a higher up person's potentially criminal conduct,” said Carrie Cohen, a former federal prosecutor.
Last week, prosecutors told a judge they may bring more charges against the mayor.
In each case, the mayor has painted his aides’ departures as their own decisions, with the exception of David Banks’ accelerated resignation date — which came at the behest of Adams.
Hochul first communicated her demand that Adams thin the ranks upon his indictment. Since then, the mayor’s innermost circle has all but collapsed.
First came Tim Pearson, one of the mayor’s closest advisers, who was at the center of multiple lawsuits and investigations. He submitted his resignation Sept. 30. Two days later, Hochul told reporters that Pearson’s exit was a “good first step” — with an emphasis on the word “first.”

The Banks family resignations soon followed.
As of Monday afternoon, Hochul had not yet indicated publicly whether the latest round of departures is enough to satiate her. A spokesperson, Anthony Hogrebe, said the governor and mayor had “multiple conversations over the past few days.”
“We’re not going to comment on details of those discussions, but the mayor is aware of the governor’s priorities,” he said.
Adams, for his part, pushed back Monday on the claim that the governor was pressuring him to oust aides. He characterized Hochul as a “partner.”
Over the last three years, Hochul and Adams have been significant allies — touting their strong relationship in public any opportunity they get as a way to distance themselves from the dysfunctional relationships prior governors and mayors have shared.
Hochul notably did not call on Adams to resign following his indictment, which accuses him of accepting lavish travel perks and illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals who would lean on him for favors.

To this point, Adams has been buoyed in part by support from Black civic leaders in New York City who have emphasized his right to due process. Many of them, including the Rev. Al Sharpton and Hazel Dukes, longtime president of the New York NAACP, are also allied with Hochul.
Rev. Kirsten John Foy, founder of a nonprofit group called The Arc of Justice, is among those calling on Hochul to allow Adams to have his day in court. He and other Black leaders have been angered by some politicians who have rushed to call for the mayor to step down, including Rep. Jerry Nadler, the Manhattan Democrat who is the senior member of the state’s congressional delegation.
In an interview with Gothamist, Foy acknowledged Hochul was in a “tight spot.”
“She's got to show that she cares enough about the governance of New York City, but not overstep and overreach and step out of her lane,” Foy said. “For all — for good, bad, and ugly — Eric Adams is the duly elected mayor of the city of New York, and to just remove him or undermine him in that position also, in effect, nullifies the will of the voter.”
 

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Everybody stepping down but the Mayor
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Feds raid NYPD’s school safety HQ as part of probe into city contracts: sources​

By
Craig McCarthy,

Larry Celona and

Matt Troutman
Published Oct. 10, 2024
Updated Oct. 10, 2024, 6:48 p.m. ET


Federal agents raided the NYPD’s School Safety Division headquarters in Queens Thursday as part of a probe into city contracts, sources said.
The raids are the latest to target Mayor Eric Adams’ administration and appear linked to an investigation into Tim Pearson, a former senior aide and one of Hizzoner’s longtime friends under scrutiny for allegedly picking contractors in exchange for kickbacks.
Agents hit the HQ at Queens Plaza North in Long Island City Thursday afternoon and seized papers and records tied to a “panic button” app contract allegedly greenlit by Pearson, according to the sources.
Tim Pearson 3
Pearson is a former senior aide and one of Adams’ longtime friends.Stephen Yang
Kevin Taylor, the up-and-coming former head of school safety agents, also had his phone taken by the feds, according to sources. Pearson had urged Taylor to have safety agents install the app on their phones, and he’s believed to be strictly a witness in a larger case against the mayor’s friend, sources said.


Terence Banks, the brother of outgoing Schools Chancellor David Banks, is also connected to the investigation behind the raids, sources said.

The feds are looking into how Saferwatch, a tech firm that sold the app for schools to use in active shooter emergencies and was one of Terence Banks’ clients, had scored high-level meetings with the chancellor, source said. Pearson allegedly later greenlit the contract.
Taylor had taken a prominent role in the school safety division, but transferred out earlier this year. He couldn’t be reached for comment as his phone is apparently in the feds’ hands.
The raids were jointly carried out by investigators with the federal Southern District of New York and the city’s Department of Investigation, sources said.
Kevin Taylor 3
Taylor is the up-and-coming former head of school safety agents.Matthew McDermott
Officials with the SDNY and DOI both declined to comment.
The expanded investigation adds to Pearson’s many troubles, and creates further headaches for Adams, who is under federal indictment and has watched his inner circle winnowed after a spate of raids seemingly unconnected to his bribery and corruption case.
Pearson resigned last week under a cloud of suspicion after the feds took his phone Sept. 4.

Follow the latest on the FBI raids of Adams administration officials​


The retired NYPD inspector had been given a plum, tailor-made job by Adams overseeing, among other things, security deals for migrant shelters.
But Pearson’s tenure was rocked by controversies, including four sexual harassment lawsuits and conflict of interest accusations, even before the raid.
One lawsuit contended Pearson told workers in the obscure city unit he ran, the Municipal Services Assessment, that he was on the prowl for graft.
FBI agents (not pictured) raided the NYPD's School Safety Division HQ on Thursday. 3
Federal agents (not pictured) raided the NYPD’s School Safety Division HQ on Thursday.Gregory P. Mango
“People are doing very well on these contracts,” Pearson said, according to the lawsuit.
“I have to get mine. Where are my crumbs?”
The feds have since questioned cops in the unit about city contracting, sources have said.
Terence Banks, a former MTA official turned consultant, also had his phones seized Sept. 4.
Investigators have been looking into Banks’ consulting firm, Pearl Alliance, which had at least one client score a coveted sit down with David Banks, the now-outgoing schools chief. The firm had inked millions of dollars’ worth of public deals, sources have said.
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David and Terence Banks’ brother Phil Banks, another Adams friend who recently resigned as deputy mayor for public safety, also had his phone seized by feds during the September raids. The feds are eyeing whether he steered city contracts toward companies repped by Terence Banks’ consulting firm.
Pearson’s lawyer declined to comment, while Terence Banks’ attorney didn’t return a call.
Saferwatch representatives didn’t return a request for comment.
Additional reporting by Tina Moore, Joe Marino and Ben Kochman
 

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Adams’ ex-aide Ingrid Lewis-Martin brags to investigators that NYC Department of Correction will ‘take care of her’: ‘I’ve been good to them’​

By
Aneeta Bhole and

Ben Kochman
Published Jan. 21, 2025, 8:02 p.m. ET



Mayor Eric Adams’ top adviser bragged to investigators that the New York City Department of Correction “will take care of me,” court papers reveal — as the ex-aide stares down the barrel of a swath of corruption charges.
Ingrid Lewis-Martin is accused of trading favors with two Big Apple hoteliers in exchange for more than $100,000 in bribes — which prosecutors say funded a Porsche for her DJ son and other luxuries.
Ingrid Lewis-Martin is accused of trading favors with two New York City hoteliers in exchange for more than $100,000 in bribes — which prosecutors say funded a Porsche for her DJ son and other luxuries. 3
Ingrid Lewis-Martin is accused of trading favors with two New York City hoteliers in exchange for more than $100,000 in bribes — which prosecutors say funded a Porsche for her DJ son and other luxuries.Steven Hirsch
“I’m not afraid. I know what I did and didn’t do. This is wrong. I have God and Faith. I’ll tell the judge myself. I’m not guilty,” Lewis-Martin told three investigators according to a letter from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to her attorney, Arthur Aidala.
“Corrections will take care of me. I’ve been good to them,” Lewis-Martin allegedly added.


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Bragg’s office said it plans to introduce evidence of Lewis-Martin’s statements at her trial, according to the Dec. 30 letter — which is one of four signed by Assistant District Attorney Guy Tardanico and sent to the attorneys repping those accused in the case.


Lewis-Martin also apologized while in custody to her co-defendants, son Glenn Martin II, hotelier Mayank Dwivedi and real estate investor Raizada Vaid, who are all named alongside the longtime Adams confidant in the staggering indictment.
“I’m sorry you’re both there because of me, because of who I am,” she told the trio, according to the letter.
Another letter details the moment Lewis-Martin was stopped at the airport by authorities in September and had her phone seized as she arrived home from vacation in Japan.
At the time, Lewis-Martin admitted that her exchange had become heated saying the interaction had “annoyed” her.
Lewis-Martin also apologized while in custody to her co-defendants, son Glenn Martin II, hotelier Mayank Dwivedi and real estate investor Raizada Vaid, in the staggering indictment. 3
Lewis-Martin also apologized while in custody to her co-defendants, son Glenn Martin II, hotelier Mayank Dwivedi and real estate investor Raizada Vaid, in the staggering indictment.Paul Martinka
“So you’re the ones that have been listening to my phone. This is crazy. Who am I bribing? What is money laundering? Check my banks’ records,” she told investigators, according to new information about the exchange detailed in the letters.
Meanwhile, a letter sent to Martin II’s lawyer says that while at the DA’s office, Martin told his mother “callate la boca” in Spanish, which translates to “shut your mouth.”
But it remains unclear why he’d said that.
Bragg’s office also focused on comments allegedly made by Vaid during a search of his Long Island home in October.
DJ SUAVE 3
Meanwhile, a letter sent to Martin II’s lawyer says that while at the DA’s office, Martin told his mother “callate la boca” in Spanish, which translates to “shut your mouth.”Vimeo / Berman Fenelus
During the search, the letter said Vaid told his wife that “this was about ‘the woman and the mayor’” before telling an investigator that “whenever you shake hands with a politician, it will cost you money.”

Vaid’s lawyer, Jonathan Sack, said that he “disputes” the alleged statements but declined to speak further, saying that he will challenge them later “at the appropriate time in court.”
Lewis-Martin surrendered to authorities in December, arriving at Manhattan Supreme Court wearing a leopard-print top and bold red lipstick along with her son. She pleaded not guilty to the charges in the four-count indictment.
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Lewis-Martin abruptly resigned from City Hall ahead of the court appearance, and about a month before she was scheduled to quit.
Martin II, Vaid and Dwivedi all pleaded not guilty as well. All four were released without bail and are due back in court early next month.
Additional reporting by Kyle Schnitzer.
 
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