World·Updated
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted Thursday on charges that he took illegal campaign contributions and bribes from foreign nationals in exchange for favours that included helping Turkish officials get fire safety approvals for a new diplomatic building in the city.
Adams the 1st NYC mayor to be indicted in office, but has vowed to stay on and fight charges
The Associated Press
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted Thursday on charges that he took illegal campaign contributions and bribes from foreign nationals in exchange for favours that included helping Turkish officials get fire safety approvals for a new diplomatic building in the city.
Adams, a former police officer, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment that describes a decade-long trail of crimes.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan alleges in the indictment that Adams “compounded his gains” from the illegal contributions by gaming the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small dollar donations. His campaign received more than $10,000 US in matching funds as a result of the false certifications, according to the indictment.
Adams allegedly “solicited and demanded” bribes, including free and heavily discounted luxury travel benefits from a Turkish official, the indictment alleges, noting that the official was seeking Adams’s help pertaining to regulations of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan.
“I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defence before making any judgments,” said Adams, surrounded by more than a dozen supporters and family members.
He repeated a vow to stay on as mayor while fighting the charges, which he first made Wednesday night in a videotaped statement.
“I always knew that If I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became,” Adams said in that statement. “If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
FBI agents entered the mayor’s official residence and seized his phone early Thursday, hours before the indictment was made public.
“They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in,” Alex Spiro, Adams’s lawyer, said in a statement, adding that the mayor had not been arrested.
Adams called on supporters, including a pastor, to speak Thursday at his news conference, but they struggled at times to be heard over protesters demanding the mayor resign. One protester could be heard calling Adams “an embarrassment.”
Several aides investigated
The indictment marks a stunning turn for Adams, a former police captain who won election nearly three years ago to become the second Black mayor of the nation’s largest city on a platform that promised a law-and-order approach to reducing crime.
Adams spent 22 years in New York City’s police department before going into politics, first as a state senator.
He was elected mayor in 2021.
For much of the last year, Adams has faced growing legal peril, with multiple federal investigations into top advisers producing a drumbeat of subpoenas, searches and high-level departures that has thrust city hall into crisis.
Adams is the first mayor in New York City history to be indicted while in office. If he were to resign, he would be replaced by the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, who would then schedule a special election.
Only New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to remove Adams from office.
The next mayoral election is Nov. 4, 2025, with primaries taking place in June. Two candidates other than Adams have declared their candidacy on the Democratic side.
The federal investigations into Adams’s administration first emerged publicly on Nov. 2, 2023, when FBI agents conducted an early morning raid on the Brooklyn home of Adams’s chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs.
Days later, FBI agents seized the mayor’s phones and iPad as he was leaving an event in Manhattan. The interaction was disclosed several days later by the mayor’s attorney.
On Sept. 4, federal investigators seized electronic devices from the city’s police commissioner, schools chancellor, deputy mayor of public safety, first deputy mayor and other trusted confidantes of Adams both in and out of city hall.
A week after the searches, police commissioner Edward Caban announced his resignation, telling officers he didn’t want the investigations “to create a distraction.” About two weeks later, schools chancellor David Banks announced he would retire at the end of the year.
Over the summer, federal prosecutors subpoenaed Adams, his campaign arm and city hall, requesting information about the mayor’s schedule, his overseas travel and potential connections to the Turkish government.
Declining popularity for mayor
The Manhattan district attorney brought charges against six people — including a former police captain long close with Adams — over an alleged scheme to funnel tens of thousands of dollars to the mayor’s campaign by manipulating the public matching funds programs in the hopes of receiving preferential treatment from the city. Adams was not accused of wrongdoing in that case.
Adams’s former top building-safety official, Eric Ulrich, was charged last year with accepting $150,000 US in bribes and improper gifts in exchange for political favours, including providing access to the mayor. Ulrich pleaded not guilty and is fighting the charges.
In February, federal investigators searched two properties owned by one of Adams’s close aides, Winnie Greco, who had raised thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the city’s Chinese American communities and later became his director of Asian affairs. Greco hasn’t commented publicly on the FBI searches of her properties and continues to work for the city.
Adams on Thursday criticized leaks to the media and what he characterized as the “demonizing” of his team before the legal process played out.
The New York Times first reported the impending Adams indictment on Wednesday night.