NYC mayor charged with taking bribes and illegal campaign funds from foreign sources

New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted Thursday on federal charges alleging 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 captain in the New York City police department, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment that describes a decade-long trail of crimes.

Despite the corruption case, Adams said he does not plan to resign from his job running the country’s largest city, telling reporters he hopes New Yorkers will wait to hear his legal team’s defence before making any judgments.

“From here, my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city,” he said at a hastily assembled news conference outside Gracie Mansion after the charges were made public. “It’s an unfortunate day. And its a painful day. But inside all of that is a day when we will finally reveal why, for 10 months, I’ve gone through this. And I look forward to defending myself,” he said.

As Adams and others close to him addressed the media, protesters heckled them, with some chanting “abuse of power” as police circled them and one shouting, “He’s a corrupt mayor. He deserves to be in handcuffs.”

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan alleges in the indictment that Adams “not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions” to his mayoral campaign. A senior official in the Turkish diplomatic establishment “facilitated many straw donations” to Adams and arranged for Adams and his companions to receive free or discounted travel on Turkey’s national airline to destinations including France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkey, the indictment alleges.

Adams “compounded his gains” from the illegal campaign contributions by gaming the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small dollar donations. His campaign received more than US$10,000 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. 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 and seized his phone early Thursday.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan scheduled a late-morning news conference to discuss the case.

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. He was elected as the city’s second Black mayor in 2021.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to remove Adams from office. Her spokesperson, Avi Small, issued a statement late Wednesday that said “Governor Hochul is aware of these concerning news reports and is monitoring the situation. It would be premature to comment further until the matter is confirmed by law enforcement.”

The indictment caps an extraordinary few weeks in New York City, as federal investigators have honed in on members of Adams’s inner circle, producing a drum-beat of raids, subpoenas and high-level resignations that have thrust City Hall into crisis.

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 city’s police commissioner and head of the school’s system have announced their resignations.

FBI agents had seized Adams’s electronic devices nearly a year ago as part of an investigation focused, at least partly, on campaign contributions and Adams’s interactions with the Turkish government. Because the charges were sealed, it was unknown whether they dealt with those same matters.

In early September, federal investigators seized devices from his police commissioner, schools chancellor, two deputy mayors and other trusted confidants both in and out of City Hall.

All have denied wrongdoing.