Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on five federal charges of bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal campaign donations that, according to prosecutors, began when he was a high-ranking elected official in Brooklyn and continued after he became mayor.
The indictment, which was revealed on Thursday morning (26), follows an investigation that began in 2021 and focused, at least in part, on whether he conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal campaign contributions.
In a press conference, Adams said he was being demonized and urged New Yorkers to be patient: “I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense.”
Federal prosecutors said that Adams “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits” since at least 2014, when he was the president of a Brooklyn district, according to the indictment.
The benefits included luxury international travel, such as free and discounted airline tickets from Turkish Airlines to Turkey and free meals and hotel rooms while he was there, from wealthy foreigners and at least one Turkish government official, prosecutors said.
Adams attempted to hide the gifts or make them appear as personal acquisitions, according to the indictment. He also deleted messages to cover up his actions. The value of the gifts exceeded $100,000, prosecutors said.
In exchange for the advantages, Adams, as mayor, pressured New York City Fire Department officials to open a new Turkish consulate building in Manhattan, despite fire inspection issues. A Fire Department official overseeing the building’s fire safety assessment said he was told he would lose his job if he did not follow the mayor’s order.
Early Thursday morning, federal agents searched the mayor’s official residence.
On Wednesday night, several elected officials called for Adams’s resignation, including several Democrats running against him in next year’s Democratic primaries. Governor Kathy Hochul has the power to remove him from office; she has not yet commented on the indictment.
Adams claims he is innocent. “I always knew that if I stood up for my position for New Yorkers, I would be a target — and a target I have become,” he said in a recorded video.
Adams, a retired police captain, was elected the 110th mayor of New York City in 2021 after a campaign built on the promise of reducing crime and bringing professionalism to City Hall. His inner circle has been embroiled in federal investigations targeting the highest officials in the city government, some of whom have recently resigned.What could happen?
If Adams resigns, the acting mayor will be Jumaane Williams, New York City’s public advocate. He will have to schedule a nonpartisan special election for a new mayor, which should take place within 90 days.
This is the first time a New York City mayor has been criminally indicted.
Source: Text compiled from The New York Times