New York Mayor Adams is the first sitting New York City mayor to be charged with a federal crime.
Adams has been indicted on five federal criminal charges of bribery and wire fraud. The indictment detailing the charges was unsealed Thursday morning.
Adams maintained his innocence, telling reporters on Thursday after the indictment was made public to “wait and hear our side of the story.”
It comes just hours after FBI agents searched Gracie Mansion, the official residence of Adams, early Thursday morning to seize his phone.
Adams’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said the search was an unnecessary show of force. “They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in,” Spiro said in a statement.
City Hall has been thrust into crisis in recent weeks following high-level resignations within the Democratic mayor’s administration, amid multiple federal probes that have been ongoing for several months.
Four higher-level resignations within the Adams administration have been announced within the past month, including the city’s police commissioner, the mayor’s chief counsel, the city’s health commissioner and the school’s chancellor.
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The 5 federal charges against Mayor Adams Include:
Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Federal Program Bribery, and to Receive Campaign Contributions by Foreign Nationals
Wire Fraud
Solicitation of a Contribution by a Foreign National
Solicitation of a Contribution by a Foreign National
Bribery
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News of Adams’s indictment was made public late Wednesday. He denied any wrongdoing.
He stated, “I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became,” Adams said in a video statement released Wednesday night. “If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
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He is now the first sitting mayor of New York City to face criminal charges.
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, became the most prominent elected official to call for Adams’s resignation on Wednesday.
“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez said on X. “The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration. For the good of the city, he should resign.”
What led to the indictment?
One of several federal investigations looming in on Adams’s administration focuses on his mayoral campaign in 2021 and whether it conspired with the Turkish government to conceal foreign campaign contributions, which are illegal in the U.S.
Agents were also looking into whether Adams pressured the city’s fire commissioner to approve a high-rise building for the Turkish consulate, despite safety concerns. Investigators were also looking into flight upgrades they believe Adams received from Turkish Airlines.
Here’s what could happen next
While Adams said Thursday he plans to stay on the job, if he were to leave office, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams would take Adams’s place and would have three days to set a date for a special election to choose a new mayor.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams charged with fraud, accepting $10 million in improper campaign contributions.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with five counts in an alleged long-standing conspiracy connected to improper benefits, illegal campaign contributions and an attempted cover-up, according to a sweeping indictment unsealed Thursday morning.
Adams, 64, faces one count of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy, two counts of solicitation of a contribution from a foreign national and one count of bribery, according to the indictment, charges that expose the mayor to significant prison time if convicted.
Many of the accusations relate to Adams’ relationship with wealthy foreign businesspeople and Turkish officials.
Prosecutors say Adams accepted more than $100,000 in improper benefits, many of which came in the form of flight upgrades and stays in luxury hotels, none of which were publicly divulged as required.
He also allegedly received illegal campaign contributions to his first run for mayor and ongoing fundraising for a reelection run.
“ERIC ADAMS, the defendant, sought and accepted illegal campaign contributions in the form of ‘nominee’ or ‘straw’ contributions, meaning that the true contributors conveyed their money through nominal donors, who falsely certified they were contributing their own money,” the indictment states.
“As a result of those false certifications, ADAMS’s 2021 mayoral campaign received more than $10,000,000 in public funds,” the indictment alleges.