NYC Mayor Eric Adams struck a blow as the judge rejected claims that the government illegally leaked grand jury information to the press

A judge rejected Eric Adams' claim that federal authorities leaked classified grand jury information ahead of his historic indictment – dealing a major blow to the mayor's case ahead of Friday's highly anticipated court hearing.

Adams' lawyers did not provide clear evidence that a variety of news stories about the mayor's corruption investigation contained illegally leaked material from federal agents and prosecutors, Manhattan federal Judge Dale Ho wrote in an order issued late Thursday.

“In summary, there is no item in the record that contains information that could only have been disclosed by the government, and the Court cannot believe Mayor Adams' arguments to the contrary,” Ho wrote.

The decision rejected Adam's request for a court hearing to investigate the alleged leaks and for sanctions to be imposed against the government.

The order came a day after Adams' defense team claimed in court papers that they had clear evidence that federal authorities under U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in Manhattan leaked information to the press – but the supposedly incriminating evidence was removed from the file blackened.

Adams' lawyers have argued since September – when a grand jury handed up a five-count indictment against the mayor, accusing him of accepting bribes and defrauding the city of $10 million in public campaign funds – that federal authorities have long sought to smearing her client by sharing details about the probe.

They presented a long list of articles, mostly from The New York Times, that they said showed federal authorities leaked classified grand jury information.

“A cascade of critical articles based on one-sided, misleading government revelations undermined public support for the mayor long before he was ever charged with a crime and able to defend himself in court,” Adams' attorney Alex Spiro wrote in an article Submission.

But after digging into the stories, Ho found no evidence of improper leaks.

And even assuming “that a matter presented to the grand jury was improperly disclosed, Mayor Adams has not demonstrated that government counsel (or their agent) made the alleged disclosure(s),” Ho wrote .

He noted that Adams' allegations are similar to those dismissed in other federal cases.

“To be clear, this court makes no findings as to the factual accuracy of the newspaper articles that Mayor Adams claims characterize the grand jury testimony, what was actually said in the grand jury room, or even whether the individual Mayors are mayors. “Adams states in his application that he actually testified before the grand jury,” Ho wrote.

“However, the parties are reminded that this case should be heard in the courtroom and not in the press,” he added.

Adams was scheduled to appear in federal court in Manhattan at 2 p.m. Friday to hear his attorneys' attempt to have his bribery charges dropped.

Additional reporting by Ben Kochman