(The Center Square) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations stemming from an investigation spanning nearly a decade.
The indictment, unsealed on Thursday by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams’ office, includes five charges: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals; wire fraud; solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national; solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national and bribery.
Williams said prosecutors allege in the indictment that Adams sought and accepted more than $10 million in illegal ‘straw’ contributions for his 2021 mayoral bid that were traced to Turkey.
“Mayor Adams took these contributions even though he knew they were illegal, even though he knew these contributions were an attempt by a Turkish government official and Turkish businessman to buy influence with him,” Williams said at a press briefing on Thursday. “The mayor had a duty to disclose these gifts on his annual financial disclosure forms so that the public could see who is giving him what.”
Federal prosecutors also allege in the indictment that Adams “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits” since at least 2014, when he was then the Brooklyn borough president. They say Adams also benefited from more than $100,000 in gifts from the Turkish government, including free travel to Turkey, meals and hotel rooms, and created “fake paper trails” to hide the gifts or make them appear as if he hadn’t paid for them.
In exchange, Adams, as mayor, pressured the New York Fire Department to open a new Turkish consular building in Manhattan despite not passing a fire safety inspection. Prosecutors said an FDNY official was threatened with being fired if he didn’t follow the mayor’s directive.
“As Adams’ prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City’s mayor,” prosecutors wrote in the 57-page indictment. “Adams agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received.”
The indictment, the first of a New York City mayor in its history, is a dramatic fall from grace for the mayor of America’s largest city who was once considered a rising star in the Democratic Party.
At a press conference earlier Thursday morning, Adams denied any wrongdoing and claimed federal investigators are demonizing him. He urged New Yorkers not to rush to judgment on his indictment.
“I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense,” Adams said at the briefing as hecklers shouted for him to resign. “Everyone who knows me knows that I follow the campaign rules and I follow the law.”
Adams, 64, was elected to lead the nation’s most populous city nearly three years ago, pledging to reduce crime and guide the city out of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But the news of federal investigations surfaced last year after federal authorities searched the home of Adams’ chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, and temporarily seized Adams’ electronic devices.
The swirl of probes has prompted the resignations of Ed Caban, Commissioner of the New York Police Department, and the city’s health commissioner and the city’s school chancellor, David Banks, whose brother, Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, and fiancée Sheena Wright, who serves as a deputy mayor as well were among City Hall officials to have devices seized as part of the investigations.
In recent weeks, calls have mounted for Adams to resign, including from New York Democrats such as Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and state Sen. John Liu, D-Queens.
If Adams resigned, New York City’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, would take over as acting mayor. He would then schedule a special election for a new mayor, which could take place within 90 days.
