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New York Mayor Indicted in Corruption Case
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New York Mayor Indicted in Corruption Case

NYC Mayor Eric Adams Indicted on Federal Charges in Campaign Finance Case

A federal indictment was unsealed Thursday morning against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, accusing him of a campaign contribution scheme, bribery and other crimes, just hours after the FBI searched his Gracie Mansion home and seized his phone.

Watch: Federal Prosecutors Announce Charges Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams

The 57-page indictment accuses Adams of five criminal counts related to contributions to the Democratic Party’s 2021 mayoral campaign and other conduct dating back to 2014, when he was Brooklyn’s borough president.

Much of the indictment filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan targets the Turkish community and Turkish businessmen who allegedly exerted influence over Adams. Adams is accused of accepting more than $100,000 in foreign travel benefits.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks to the press outside his official residence Gracie Mansion after being charged with bribery and illegally soliciting a campaign contribution from a foreign national, in New York City, U.S., September 26, 2024.

Caitlin Ochs | Reuters

The indictment alleges that a “senior official of the Turkish Diplomatic Organization” facilitated illegal campaign contributions to Adams and also arranged for the mayor and his associates to travel for free or at a discount on Turkey’s national airline, which is largely owned by the Turkish government, to France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary and Turkey.

In September 2021, the indictment says, the Turkish official told Adams “it was his turn to pay the official back” by pressuring the New York City Fire Department to allow the opening of a new 36-story Turkish consulate building “without a fire inspection, in time for an important visit by the Turkish president.”

“At the time, the building allegedly failed an FDNY inspection,” the lawsuit said.

Adams “did as he was told” and an FDNY officer “was told he would lose his job if he did not comply,” the complaint said.

The building then opened as requested, the complaint said.

“I look forward to defending myself and the people of this city as I have done throughout my professional career,” Adams said outside Gracie Mansion, flanked by supporters, after the charges were made public in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The indictment alleges that Adams, a 64-year-old former police chief, received more than $10 million in public funds in campaign contributions by using so-called front men in the United States to conceal that he was accepting foreign campaign contributions.

Download the full indictment.

Beginning in 2014 and continuing for nearly a decade, Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as lavish international travel, including from wealthy foreign businessmen and at least one Turkish government official who sought to gain influence over him, the indictment said.

“In 2018, Adams—who had by then announced his intention to run for mayor of New York City—not only accepted illegal campaign contributions for his 2021 mayoral campaign, but also solicited other valuables from foreigners. As ADAMS’s prominence and power grew, his foreign benefactors sought to capitalize on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly once it became clear in 2021 that Adams would run for mayor of New York City.”

“Adams agreed, offering favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received. After his inauguration as Mayor of New York City, ADAMS quickly began preparing for his next election, including by planning to solicit and grant requests for more illicit contributions from those who supported his 2021 mayoral campaign with such donations.”

Eric Adams Indictment pg 41: ERIC ADAMS, the defendant, continued to conceal the luxury travel perks he accepted in exchange for taking actions favorable to the Turkish official, the airline manager, and others by again failing to report these gifts on his 2021 annual disclosure form. In total, from 2016 through 2021, ADAMS received the following perks from the Turkish official, the airline manager, the promoter, and others, none of which he reported on his annual disclosure forms:

Source: US Southern District of New York

Adams is charged in the indictment with conspiracy to commit fraud, bribery of a federal program and receiving campaign contributions from a foreign national.

He is also charged with wire fraud, two counts of soliciting a contribution from a foreigner and bribery.

Mayor Eric Adams outside Gracie Mansion on July 8, 2024. (Luiz C. Ribeiro for New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Luiz C. Ribeiro | New York Daily News | TGetty Images

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams and a senior FBI official whose offices investigated Adams will hold a news conference at 11:30 a.m. ET on Thursday “to announce significant allegations of government corruption,” Williams’ office said.

Adams is at least the second New York mayor to face criminal charges while still in office.

He is also the first official in his administration to be charged as a result of multiple ongoing investigations involving the New York Police Department and the city’s top school official.

Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, said in a statement Thursday morning: “Federal agents showed up at Gracie Mansion this morning in an attempt to (once again) create a spectacle and (once again) take Mayor Adams’ phone.”

“He’s not under arrest and he’s looking forward to his day in court,” Spiro said. “They’re sending a dozen officers to pick up a phone, while we would have loved to have turned it in.”

Federal agents search Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York City, on September 26, 2024, after Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on federal criminal charges.

Timothy A. Clary | Episode | Getty Images

It was previously announced that the Manhattan Attorney General’s Office was investigating Adams for possible conspiracy with the Turkish government to funnel illegal donations to that campaign.

The New York Times reported Monday that prosecutors in July filed grand jury subpoenas with City Hall, Adams and his campaign, demanding information about five other countries: Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan.

Adams issued a defiant statement Wednesday night after news of the charges broke.

“I now believe that the federal government intends to charge me with crimes,” Adams said in a video statement. “If so, these charges would be completely false, based on lies.”

“But they wouldn’t be surprising. I always knew that if I defended my position to all of you, I would be a target — and a target I became.

“If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with all my might and courage,” said Adams, who served as a state senator and then Brooklyn borough president after serving in the police department.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI declined to comment on the charges.

Earlier Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called on the mayor to resign, saying the “flood of resignations and vacancies” stemming from multiple federal investigations into government officials “threatens the functions of government.”

“For the good of the city, he should resign,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

After news of the indictment broke, a growing number of elected officials and other political figures in New York called on Adams to resign, including City Manager Brad Lander and Senator Zellnor Myrie, both of whom are running for mayor next year, and former Comptroller Scott Stringer, who is considering a run for City Hall.

If Adams steps down before his first term ends, he will be succeeded by Jumaane Williams, New York City’s public advocate, as acting mayor.

New York City Democratic mayoral candidate Eric Adams raises hands with New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and New York City Auditor General candidate Brad Lander during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall on October 22, 2021 in Downtown Brooklyn in New York City.

Michael M Santiago | Getty Images

There are multiple federal investigations into Adams and people associated with him and his administration.

On Tuesday, David Banks, the city’s education chancellor, told Adams he expected to retire at the end of 2024.

Banks’ surprise announcement came weeks after federal authorities seized electronic devices from him, his brother, Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, and his fiancée, Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.

Another Banks brother, Terence, is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan in connection with the awarding of millions of dollars in city contracts to companies that received them after hiring Terence Banks’ consulting firm.

Read more about CNBC’s political coverage

The same prosecutor’s office is investigating whether James Caban, the twin brother of former New York Police Chief Edward Caban, abused his ties to his brother and the NYPD to benefit his nightclub security business.

Edward Caban resigned as police chief on September 12, a week after his own phone was seized by federal investigators.

Three days after Edward Caban resigned, Adams’ attorney and chief legal adviser, Lisa Zornberg, also resigned, saying she had “concluded that I could no longer serve in my capacity.”

On Friday, federal investigators executed search warrants at the homes of NYPD Acting Commissioner Thomas Donlon.

Donlon, a former top FBI counterterrorism official in New York, said this week that investigators “seized material that came into my possession about 20 years ago that has nothing to do with my work with the New York City Police Department.”

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