The NYPD cops accused of providing favors in exchange for bribes are gearing up for a massive motion to dismiss their case — citing the same US Supreme Court ruling that helped save Mayor de Blasio from prosecution and which could force new trials for disgraced politicians Sheldon Silver and Dean Skelos.
A lawyer for former NYPD Officer Michael Harrington told a Manhattan federal judge on Friday that accepting gifts in exchange for favors doled out on “an as-need basis” no longer counts as bribery — thanks to the Supreme Court.
The feds need to prove a “quid pro quo of something concrete,” attorney Andrew Weinstein argued at a pretrial hearing.
Attorney Marc Fernich added that gifts in exchange for “amorphous” favors not directly tied to a gift no longer count as bribes.
Harrington and his alleged co-conspirator, James Grant, stand accused of accepting trips abroad, home renovations and other perks from real-estate investor Jona Rechnitz and his businessman pal Jeremy Reichberg.
In exchange, the feds said, they acted as rent-a-cops by fixing tickets and providing private escort services, including a private police escort that closed down a lane of the Lincoln Tunnel.
The Supreme Court last June redefined what counts as public corruption by tossing the conviction of former Virginia Gov. Robert McDonnell.
The justices said there was no proof McDonnell provided legislation or other “official acts” in exchange for the $165,000 in loans and gifts — including Rolexes, ballgowns and a loaned Ferrari — that he received from a local businessman.
Earlier this month, de Blasio and his aides in a City Hall were also given a free pass in a months-long bribery probe due in part to the McDonnell decision.
Former state Assembly Speaker Silver and former state Senate Majority Leader Skelos have argued that they should be granted new trials as a result of the high court’s ruling.
