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New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with five criminal counts as part of a City Hall federal corruption investigation. Adams becomes the first sitting mayor of NYC to face criminal charges while in office.
According to the unsealed indictment, Adams is charged with conspiring to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery and receiving campaign contributions by foreign nationals; as well as one count of bribery, one count of wire fraud, and two counts of soliciting a contribution by a foreign national. The charges stem from an ongoing investigation by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office that has scrutinized allegations Turkey’s government funneled illegal donations into Adams’ 2021 campaign
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said that Adams engaged in “long-running” corruption involving bribes from foreign nationals dating back nearly a decade, and added that as the investigation continues, more people “will be held accountable.” Said Williams: “The conduct alleged in the indictment — the foreign money, the corporate money, the bribery, the years of concealment — is a grave breach of public trust.”
The new indictment accuses Adams of engaging in an alleged decade-long scheme to accept “valuable benefits” from foreign actors in exchange for giving them influence: “As Adams’s prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City’s mayor. Adams agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received. After his inauguration as mayor of New York City, Adams soon began preparing for his next election, including by planning to solicit more illegal contributions and granting requests from those who supported his 2021 mayoral campaign with such donations.”
The indictment claimed that Adams “increased his fundraising by accepting these concealed, illegal donations — at the cost of giving his secret patrons the undue influence over him that the law tries to prevent.” The Turkish official mentioned in the indictment allegedly gave Adams and his staff more than $120,000 worth of free and discounted luxury travel to Turkey, France, China, Sri Lanka, India and Hungary, which Adams is accused of going through great lengths to cover up.
Adams, a former NYPD officer, was elected mayor in 2021 after serving eight years as Brooklyn’s borough president and seven years as a state senator. A series of officials in his administration have recently resigned or retired, many of whom had been involved in the federal probes. However during a press conference Thursday, Adams said that while he was not surprised by the indictments, he vowed to continue his mayoral duties and was not considering a resignation. He asked New Yorkers to wait to make any judgments until after he presents his defense.
Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, said in a statement: “We have known for some time that they would try to find a way to bring a case against Mayor Adams. Yesterday — more improper leaks. Today — they emailed us a summons (and created the spectacle of a bogus raid). We will see them in court.”
Meanwhile, multiple NYC-based leaders have called for Adams to immediately step down. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez wrote after details of the indictment was revealed: “I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City. The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov [sic] function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration. For the good of the city, he should resign.”
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