Eric Adams indictment unsealed: New York mayor charged in campaign contribution scheme

A federal indictment charging New York City Mayor Eric Adams pinch a decade-long run publication scheme, bribery and different crimes was unsealed Thursday morning, hours aft FBI raided his Gracie Mansion residence and seized his phone.

The 57-page indictment accuses Adams of 5 criminal counts related to obtaining forbidden donations for his 2021 mayoral campaign, and accepting free luxury recreation making love arsenic backmost arsenic acold arsenic 2016, erstwhile he was Brooklyn borough president.

Much of nan indictment revenge successful U.S. District Court successful Manhattan centers connected nan Turkish community, Turkish businessmen and a elder Turkish authorities charismatic who allegedly exerted power connected Adams, who is accused of accepting good complete $100,000 successful overseas recreation benefits and forbidden run donations.

"Public agency is simply a privilege," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damien Williams astatine a news convention detailing nan charges.

"We allege that Mayor Adams abused that privilege and collapsed nan rule -- laws that are designed to guarantee that officials for illustration him service nan people, not nan highest bidder, not a overseas bidder, and surely not a overseas power," Williams said. "These are agleam reddish lines, and we allege that nan politician crossed them again and again for years."

The indictment says a "senior charismatic successful nan Turkish negotiated establishment" facilitated forbidden run donations to Adams, and besides arranged for nan politician and his companions to person free aliases discounted recreation connected Turkey's nationalist airline, which is owned successful ample portion by that country's government, to France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary and Turkey.

In September 2021, nan indictment alleges, nan Turkish charismatic told Adams "that it was his move to repay" that charismatic by pressuring nan New York City Fire Department to facilitate nan opening of a caller Turkish consulate building, which is 36-stories-tall, "without a occurrence inspection, successful clip for a high-profile sojourn by Turkey's president."

"At nan time, nan building would person grounded an FDNY inspection," nan indictment says.

Adams "did arsenic he was instructed," and an FDNY charismatic "was told that he would suffer his occupation if he grounded to acquiesce," nan indictment says.

The building past opened arsenic requested, according to nan indictment.

"I look guardant to defending myself and defending nan group of this city, arsenic I've done passim my full master career," Adams said extracurricular Gracie Mansion while flanked by supporters, aft nan indictment was unsealed successful U.S. District Court successful Manhattan.

Adams is owed to beryllium arraigned Friday but his lawyer, Alex Spiro, has asked a judge to push that backmost to adjacent week to consolidate different planned proceeding successful nan case.

The indictment says Adams, a 64-year-old erstwhile constabulary captain, received much than $10 cardinal successful nationalist matching costs for run contributions by utilizing alleged straw donors successful nan United States to hide nan truth that he was accepting overseas run contributions.

Download nan afloat indictment.

Starting successful 2014, and "Thereafter, for astir a decade, Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, specified arsenic luxury world travel, including from able overseas businesspeople and astatine slightest 1 Turkish authorities charismatic seeking to summation power complete him," nan indictment says.

"By 2018, Adams — who had by past made known his plans to tally for Mayor of New York City — not only accepted, but sought forbidden run contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, arsenic good arsenic different things of value, from overseas nationals," nan indictment says.

"As Adams's prominence and powerfulness grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to rate successful connected their corrupt relationships pinch him, peculiarly when, successful 2021, it became clear that Adams would go New York City's mayor."

"Adams agreed, providing favorable curen successful speech for nan illicit benefits he received. After his inauguration arsenic Mayor of New York City, Adams soon began preparing for his adjacent election, including by readying to solicit much forbidden contributions and granting requests from those who supported his 2021 mayoral run pinch specified donations."

Adams is charged successful nan indictment pinch 1 count of conspiracy to perpetrate ligament fraud, national programme bribery, and to person run contributions by a overseas national.

He besides is charged pinch ligament fraud, 2 counts of inducement of a publication by a overseas national, and bribery.

Adams is astatine slightest nan 2nd New York politician to beryllium criminally charged while still successful office.

And he is nan first charismatic successful his management to beryllium charged arsenic a consequence of aggregate pending investigations that person ensnared nan New York Police Department and nan city's apical schools' official.

Adams' lawyer Spiro, successful a connection Thursday morning, said,  "Federal agents appeared this greeting astatine Gracie Mansion successful an effort to create a spectacle (again) and return Mayor Adams telephone (again)."

"He has not been arrested and looks guardant to his time successful court," Spiro said. "They nonstop a twelve agents to prime up a telephone erstwhile we would person happily turned it in."

On Wednesday, earlier news of nan indictment first broke, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called connected nan politician to resign, saying nan "flood of resignations and vacancies" resulting from various national probes of management officials "are threatening authorities functions."

"For nan bully of nan metropolis he should resign," Ocasio-Cortez said.

A increasing number of elected officials and different governmental figures successful New York besides called connected Adams to measurement down, among them metropolis Comptroller Brad Lander and authorities Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who are some moving for politician adjacent year, and erstwhile Comptroller Scott Stringer, who is weighing a tally for City Hall.

If Adams resigns earlier his first word successful agency ends, he will beryllium succeeded by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams arsenic acting mayor.

Williams successful a connection issued Thursday said, "I consciousness nan aforesaid disbelief and indignation that I cognize galore New Yorkers feel, upset that this is wherever our metropolis is successful this moment."

"This is simply a achy time, and nan looming unknowns and uncertainties only adhd to nan disorder and chaos astatine City Hall successful an untenable situation," Williams said. "Justice presumes innocence until proven guilty, astatine nan aforesaid time, these charges are moreover much sweeping and terrible than imagined. In nan look of this evidence, it is not capable to deflect blasted and contradict responsibility.
 
"It is national officials' responsibility to beryllium their case, and it is nan mayor's responsibility to beryllium to New Yorkers that location is simply a existent scheme and way to govern nan metropolis efficaciously and regain trust, and his clip to show that scheme is quickly moving out."

There are aggregate national investigations into Adams and group affiliated pinch him and his administration.

On Tuesday, metropolis schools Chancellor David Banks told Adams he expected to discontinue astatine nan extremity of 2024.

Banks' astonishment announcement came weeks aft national authorities seized physics devices belonging to him, his brother, Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, and his fiancee, Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.

Another Banks brother, Terence, is being investigated by nan Manhattan U.S. attorney's agency successful relationship pinch nan allocation of metropolis contacts worthy millions of dollars to nan companies who received them aft hiring Terence Banks' consulting firm.

The aforesaid prosecutors' agency is probing whether James Caban, nan copy relative of erstwhile New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban, exploited his ties to his relative and nan NYPD to use his nightclub information business.

Edward Caban resigned arsenic constabulary commissioner connected Sept. 12, a week aft his ain telephone was seized by national investigators.

Three days aft Edward Caban resigned, Adam's mayoral counsel and main ineligible advisor, Lisa Zornberg, resigned, saying she had "concluded that I tin nary longer service successful my position."

Last Friday, national investigators executed hunt warrants astatine nan homes of Thomas Donlon, nan acting NYPD commissioner.

Donlon, who is simply a erstwhile apical FBI counterterrorism charismatic successful New York, said this week that nan investigators "took materials that came into my possession astir 20 years agone and are unrelated to my activity pinch nan New York City Police Department."