New York City Mayor Eric Adams vowed to stay in office Thursday after federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment accusing him of letting Turkish officials and businesspeople buy his influence with illegal campaign contributions and lavish overseas trips.
Adams, a Democrat and former police captain, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment outlining a decade-long trail of corruption that began when he served as an elected official in Brooklyn and continued through his mayoral administration.
Among other things, prosecutors allege that Adams received free and steeply discounted flight upgrades valued at more than US$100,000, as well as campaign contributions from straw donors, some of which helped him qualify for more than US$10 million in matching public campaign funds.
"I want to be clear, these upgrades and freebies were not part of some frequent flyer or benefits program available to the general public. This was a multiyear scheme to buy favour from a single New York City official on the rise," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference.
In exchange for the bribes, the official asked Adams to take actions that appeared to benefit the Turkish regime, including expediting the fire safety inspection at a consulate building and not releasing a statement on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, according to the indictment.
Adams had a duty to disclose gifts he received, but year after year “kept the public in the dark,†the U.S. attorney added.
Speaking outside Gracie Mansion, Adams denied wrongdoing and said he doesn't plan to resign. Flanked by prominent Black clergy members, Adams, who is the city's second Black mayor, lashed out at federal prosecutors and suggested he had been unfairly targeted.
"I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defence before making any judgments," he said. "From here, my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city."
His lawyer, Alex Spiro, argued that the conduct described in the charges either wasn't illegal or didn't involve the mayor, noting that free flights are commonly afforded to politicians. He said Adams had responded to a "courtesy" request from a Turkish official seeking to expedite a fire inspection at a new consulate. "New Yorkers do this all the time," Spiro added.
It was unclear when Adams would have to surrender to authorities and appear before a judge. Spiro said he asked a judge to schedule an arraignment for Friday or Monday.
While Adams faced calls to resign from Republicans and several of his likely opponents in next June's mayoral primary, top Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries stopped short of asking him to step down and instead said the legal process should play out.
Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to remove Adams from office, but she hasn't indicated whether she would take that extraordinary step. She told reporters she would offer thoughts about it later Thursday.
If Adams were to resign, he would be immediately replaced by Jumaane Williams, a progressive Democrat who serves as the city's public advocate. Williams would then schedule a special election. In a statement Thursday, Williams said Adams' time to show he can effectively govern and regain the city's trust "is rapidly running out."
Adams spent 22 years in New York City's police department before going into politics, first as a state senator and then as Brooklyn borough president, a largely ceremonial position but one that gave him a springboard to run for mayor in 2021.
FBI agents initially seized Adams' electronic devices nearly a year ago as part of an investigation focused on campaign contributions during his mayoral run as well as Adams' interactions with the Turkish government and the Turkish American business community. Since then, he has been asked repeatedly at news conferences about his frequent global trips over the years and who paid for them.
Adams said there was nothing nefarious about his trips and that he never did anything improper in exchange for campaign money.
But prosecutors allege that Adams sought and accepted illegal contributions funneled to his campaign through an unnamed official in the Turkish diplomatic establishment. The official arranged for Adams and his companions to receive free or discounted travel on Turkiye's national airline to destinations including France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkiye, the indictment contends.
Additionally, Adams sought contributions from foreign officials -- who are banned by law from donating to U.S. political candidates -- then "compounded his gains" by gaming the city's matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small-dollar donations, prosecutors allege. In total, his campaign received more than US$10 million in matching public funds, which are only supposed to be available to candidates who play by the rules, according to the indictment.
In September 2021, a Turkish official told Adams it was time to repay him for the contributions and benefits by pressuring the fire department to facilitate the opening of the consulate without a fire inspection, in time for a high-profile visit by Turkiye's president, according to prosecutors. That request would have been a few months before Adams took office, but after it was clear he would become mayor.
Even after a fire department official warned that major defects at the consulate building had left it "unsafe to occupy," Adams pushed safety officials to allow it to open. Days later, Adams relayed news of the approval to the Turkish official, who called Adams a "true friend of Turkiye," the indictment states. Adams responded: "You are my brother. I am hear (sic) to help," according to the indictment.
Several months later, the Turkish official messaged an Adams staffer with another request: that the mayor "not make any statement about the Armenian Genocide" ahead of an April remembrance day, according to the indictment. The staffer confirmed that Adams wouldn't mention it, which he didn't. The Turkish government denies that the 1915 killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians qualifies as a genocide.
At times, Adams created and instructed others to create fake paper trails in order to falsely suggest he had paid for travel benefits that were actually free, prosecutors allege. He also deleted messages with others involved in his misconduct, at one point assuring a co-conspirator that he "always" deleted her text messages, according to the indictment.
The charges were made public hours after FBI agents entered the mayor's official residence, Gracie Mansion, and seized his phone early Thursday, capping an extraordinary few weeks in New York City that have seen a drum-beat of raids, subpoenas and high-level resignations of members of Adams' inner circle.
The U.S. attorney, Williams, said the corruption investigation would continue.
Federal prosecutors are believed to be leading multiple, separate inquiries involving Adams and his senior aides, relatives of those aides, campaign fundraising and possible influence peddling of the police and fire departments.
In the last two weeks alone, the police commissioner and schools chancellor have resigned. Neither has been charged with a crime or publicly accused of wrongdoing. In early September, federal investigators seized devices from the police commissioner, schools chancellor, two deputy mayors and other trusted Adams confidants.
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