Eric Adams’ historic corruption trial will take place just two months before what’s sure to be a contentious Democratic mayoral primary.

The decision by Judge Dale Ho to set an April 21, 2025 trial date was issued at the end of a hearing in Manhattan federal court Friday over whether to throw out a bribery charge against Adams, one of five counts the mayor faces.

The trial date is just two months before the June 24, 2025 primary, in which Adams faces a slew of Democratic challengers hoping to capitalize upon the mayor’s troubles.

Ho deliberately chose the date with the primary in mind, estimating Adams would get a resolution within four to six weeks after the trial’s start, giving him some breathing room before the election. 

He noted that he was “taking very seriously the public’s interest in a quick trial,” and added the date could still be changed later on.

“I do think it’s important for the public to have a decision one way or another,” Ho said of the case concluding before the primary.

“Something may come up, but that’s the earliest date that we can realistically try the case.”

Ho’s ruling came after Adams’ lawyer Alex Spiro pressed for a trial as soon as March.

“By the time he is on the ballot this is held over his head,” Spiro said, pushing for the judge to complete the process before ballots are certified in late April.

“You can’t lead as an indicted man.”

A source close to Adams said after the hearing that the mayor was “happy” with the fast-track trial date, believing it gave him time to campaign during the crowded campaign.

Adams, the first sitting New York City mayor to face federal criminal charges, sat staring forward through the nearly two-hour hearing, flanked by his high-profile attorneys.

Prosecutors contend Adams took bribes in the form of luxury travel perks from Turkish nationals and defrauded taxpayers out of $10 million in campaign funds.

He moved just once, exchanging notes with his lawyers as Assistant US Attorney Hagan Scotten discussed Adams’ alleged agreement to help with the Turkish consulate in Midtown during summer 2021, while he was running for mayor.

The mayor’s indictment handed down by a grand jury in September capped months of escalating raids, subpoenas and revelations about the feds’ investigation into him – and seemingly unrelated corruption probes targeting his inner circle.

Adams pleaded not guilty to all counts, while his attorneys sought to blow holes in the feds’ case.

They zeroed in on the bribery charge, arguing in a motion that it should be tossed because a recent US Supreme Court decision significantly narrowed what counts as bribing a public official.

Even if it’s true that Adams gobbled up $123,000 in free or discounted travel perks from Turkish nationals and officials, the feds didn’t show the necessary “quid pro quo,” the mayor’s lawyers argued.

Federal prosecutors, for their part, contend Adams returned his alleged luxe favors by pressuring FDNY officials to fast track fire inspections on a 37-story tower housing the Turkish consulate.

As the feds tried to make their case that the indictment’s bribery charge should be untouched, they noted Ho’s potential dismissal of it would prove a historic move.

“So, what you’re telling me, if I were to grant this motion, I would be the first court in the country to dismiss?” Ho asked rhetorically.

Scotten instead argued for mere instructions to the jury as to what constitutes a bribe in what is shaping up to be one of the first high-profile public corruption cases after the Supreme Court’s bribery decision. 

He said US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar had been briefed on the indictment and was “on board” with the feds’ legal interpretation of bribery, implying they were ready to argue the case before the country’s highest court.

Ho ended up peppering prosecutors with twice as many questions over the bribery count as he did for Adams’ defense, though he didn’t hint how he’ll decide.

The judge said he’ll issue a decision as quickly as possible. 

The hearing also revealed that federal investigators still haven’t been able to break into Adams’ locked personal cellphone – and have no timeline of when they would get access.

The mayor, in one of the 57-page indictment’s oddest accusations, told the feds he had suspiciously “forgotten” the phone’s password after investigators scooped up his other devices.

And the clock is ticking on whether the feds can use evidence from the phone.

Prosecutors have until Dec. 4 to turn over all their evidence against Adams to his defense attorneys.

Scotten said the feds have so far turned over 1.6 terabytes of data to Adams’ lawyers, 300,000 documents from subpoenas, 400,000 files from City Hall and 21 caches of device data.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Dec. 20.