NYC Mayor Eric Adams Accused of Accepting Bribes from Foreign Sources

New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted Thursday on federal charges for allegedly accepting illegal campaign contributions and bribes from foreign nationals in exchange for favors including helping Turkish officials obtain fire safety approvals for a new diplomatic building in the city.

Adams, a former captain on the New York City police force, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment that chronicles a decade-long string of crimes.

Despite the corruption trial, Adams said he had no plans to resign from his job running the nation’s largest city, telling reporters he hoped New Yorkers would wait for his legal team’s defense before making any decisions.

“From here on out, my lawyers will take care of the case, so I can take care of the city,” he said at a hastily held news conference after the charges were made public. “It’s an unfortunate day. And a painful day. But in all of this, there is a day when we will finally explain why I went through this for 10 months. And I look forward to defending myself,” he said.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan alleges in the indictment that Adams “not only accepted but solicited illegal campaign contributions” to his mayoral campaign. He “facilitated a lot of straw donations” to Adams and enabled Adams and his friends to receive free or discounted travel on Turkey’s national airline to destinations such as France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary and Turkey, a senior official in the Turkish diplomatic corps said. The indictment alleges the following.

Adams obtained his “earnings” from illegal campaign contributions by gaming the city’s matching fund program, which provides a generous match for small-dollar donations. According to the indictment, his campaign received more than $10,000 in funds through fraudulent certifications.

The indictment alleges that Adams “solicited and demanded” bribes from a Turkish official, including free and heavily discounted luxury travel allowances, and that the official sought Adams’ assistance regarding arrangements for the Turkish consulate in Manhattan. Prosecutors allege Adams created false paper trails and instructed others to falsely suggest he had paid for travel benefits that were actually free. He also deleted messages with others who engaged in misconduct, and at one point assured his accomplice that he “always” deleted her text messages, according to the indictment.

The charges were made public just 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.

Before joining the force, Adams spent 22 years with the New York City police department. politicsfirst 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 authority to remove Adams from office. His spokesman, Avi Small, said in a statement late Wednesday: “Governor Hochul is aware of this concerning news and is monitoring the situation. “It would be premature to comment further until the matter is confirmed by law enforcement.”

The indictment covers one issue an extraordinary few weeks In New York City, federal investigators zeroed in on members of Adams’ inner circle, prompting a series of raids, subpoenas and high-level resignations that threw City Hall into crisis.

Federal prosecutors are believed to be pursuing multiple separate investigations into Adams and his top aides, relatives of those aides, campaign donations and possible influence peddling by the police and fire departments.

In the past two weeks alone, the city’s police commissioner and school system president announced their resignations.

FBI agents seized Adams’ electronic devices almost a year ago as part of an investigation that focused at least in part on campaign contributions and Adams’ interactions with the Turkish government. Because the charges were sealed, it was not known whether they were related to the same matters.

In early September, federal investigators seized devices both inside and outside City Hall from the police commissioner, the school principal, two deputy mayors and other trusted confidants.

They all denied injustice.