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    • What’s in the five-count indictment against New York Mayor Eric Adams?
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    What’s in the five-count indictment against New York Mayor Eric Adams?

    Vaseline Posted on



    CNN
    —

    The indictment against New York Mayor Eric Adams, unsealed Thursday morning, alleges that he secretly solicited and accepted free gifts and illegal campaign donations from wealthy foreigners, including Turkish officials, as early as 2014.

    In return, he pressured the New York Fire Department to approve the opening of a new Turkish consular building in the city without a fire inspection, the indictment said. Additionally, his campaign used these illegal campaign donations to “steal public funds” through New York City matching funds, the indictment said.

    These allegations form the core of the federal indictment charging Adams with five counts: bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and two counts of soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals.

    Adams, a Democrat elected in 2021, has denied wrongdoing and said he has no plans to resign.

    “I look forward to defending myself and the people of this city, as I have done throughout my professional career,” Adams said.

    CNN has reviewed the 57-page, 15,000-word complaint to understand some of its key points. Taken together, the indictment lays out what Adams allegedly received from and gave to foreigners, his efforts to conceal his conduct and the specific charges prosecutors hope to prove.

    The St. Regis Istanbul Bentley Suite.

    For nearly a decade, Adams sought and accepted benefits such as free luxury travel and campaign donations from foreign businessmen, the indictment alleges.

    Between 2016 and October 2023, he is alleged to have committed 23 different “overt acts”, including accepting free flights and hotel rooms and coordinating straw donations.

    Prosecutors say the foreign nationals were able to evade federal law and conceal their campaign donations through these “straw donors” – U.S.-based donors who falsely claimed they were contributing their own money.

    The indictment details free tickets and upgrades to business class on international flights for the mayor and his associates. He reportedly accepted free stays at “lavish” hotels, meals at high-end restaurants and other “luxurious entertainment while in Turkey.”

    In 2017, Adams reportedly accepted free business class tickets on three round-trip international flights and a deeply discounted stay in a suite at the St. Regis Istanbul. The trip was worth more than $41,000, and Adams failed to disclose this, the suit alleges.

    Adams allegedly accepted more than $123,000 in luxury travel benefits between 2016 and 2021 without disclosing any of it.

    In 2018, the mayor “not only allegedly accepted illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, but also sought other valuables from foreigners.”

    In January 2022, he had agreed to accept contributions of foreign money to his 2025 campaign, the indictment alleges.

    In exchange for receiving luxury trips and other benefits from Turkish officials, Adams is said to have pressured the New York Fire Department to open a Turkish consular building without a fire inspection in time for a high-profile visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

    In September 2021, a Turkish official told the mayor that “it was his turn to pay back,” according to the indictment.

    The official urged Adams to pressure the FDNY to “facilitate the opening of a new Turkish consular building” without a fire inspection, the complaint said.

    The building allegedly failed an FDNY inspection at the time, court documents allege — after inspecting the building, an FDNY employee described the building as having “some major problems.”

    Adams begged the FDNY commissioner to approve the building, prosecutors say. That day, the FDNY department chief reportedly told the chief of fire prevention that they would both lose their jobs if they did not help obtain a certificate for the building.

    The prevention chief then issued a “conditional letter of no objection” to the issuance of the certificate, which was not standard FDNY procedure, the complaint said.

    After Adams intervened, the skyscraper was eventually opened as requested by the Turkish official, according to court documents.

    CNN has contacted the House of Representatives and the FDNY.

    The indictment states that Adams and co-conspirators, including an unnamed “Adams staffer,” attempted to conceal their conduct from the public by allegedly creating false paper trails, deleting messages and changing his phone password.

    “As described above, Adams repeatedly failed to disclose the free and heavily discounted travel benefits he accepted from the Turkish official, the promoter and the airline manager; created a false paper trail to suggest he had paid for this trip when in fact he had not; assured the Adams Staffer that he was in the habit of deleting all his communications from the Adams Staffer; and directed the Adams staffer to ensure his activities in Turkey remained hidden from the public in 2021,” the indictment said.

    Adams and others took steps to conceal the scheme even after learning of the federal investigation last November, prosecutors allege.

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    ‘Serious breach of public trust’: US attorney on charges against New York mayor

    In one instance, during an interview with investigators, an Adams employee went to the restroom and deleted encrypted messaging apps she had used to communicate with Adams and others, the complaint said.

    Another case allegedly involves the passcode on Adams’ personal cell phone.

    When investigators executed a search warrant for Adams’ electronic devices on Nov. 6, he did not have his personal phone with him, the complaint said. He gave it to investigators the next day under a subpoena, but it was “locked” and required a password, the complaint said. Adams said he changed the password a day earlier “to prevent members of his staff from accidentally or intentionally deleting the contents of his phone,” according to the complaint.

    He then claimed he had forgotten the new password, prosecutors allege.

    In total, Adams is charged with five counts that carry a maximum sentence of 45 years in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

    The most serious charge is wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. The charges stem from allegations that Adams stole from New York City’s matching fund program. The program is designed “to give New Yorkers a greater voice in elections” and matches donations from city residents to public funds but prohibits the use of “straw donations,” according to the complaint. The program requires candidates to certify compliance with campaign finance regulations.

    The indictment alleges that Adams not only received illegal campaign contributions, but he then used eight of those improper donations to apply for additional funds, receiving as much as $2,000 for each illegal contribution. His campaign then falsely confirmed compliance, the complaint said.

    ‘My daily life won’t change’: New York Mayor Eric Adams speaks after indictment

    The indictment does not include the amount of public funds he allegedly received directly from the eight illegal straw donations. According to the indictment, Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign ultimately received more than $10 million in public funds from the city’s matching fund program.

    Bribery carries a prison sentence of up to ten years. This charge relates to the alleged quid pro quo of receiving luxury travel benefits from the Turkish official in exchange for securing the Turkish House’s approval, the indictment said.

    Both counts of soliciting campaign contributions from foreigners carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison. One of the charges is based on allegations in 2021 and the other is based on allegations in 2023.

    Finally, there is conspiracy, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years. That indictment alleges that Adams “and others known and unknown” agreed to commit federal offenses, including wire fraud; requesting, accepting and receiving a campaign contribution; and bribery. The indictment lists 23 specific “overt acts” in furtherance of the conspiracy.

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