New York mayor charged in corruption case

A federal indictment against New York Mayor Eric Adams for a decade-long campaign donation scheme, bribery and other crimes was filed Thursday morning, just hours after the FBI raided his Gracie Mansion residence and seized his phone.

The 57-page indictment accuses Adams of five felony counts related to soliciting illegal donations for his 2021 mayoral campaign and accepting free luxury trips dating back to 2016, when he was Brooklyn borough president.

Much of the indictment, filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, focuses on the Turkish community, Turkish businesspeople and a senior Turkish government official who allegedly exerted influence over Adams. Adams is accused of accepting well over $100,000 in foreign travel grants and illegal campaign contributions.

“Public office is a privilege,” said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damien Williams at a press conference detailing the charges.

“We allege that Mayor Adams abused that privilege and broke the law – laws designed to ensure that public officials like him serve the people and not the highest bidder, not a foreign bidder, and certainly not a foreign power,” Williams said. “These are clear red lines, and we allege that the mayor has crossed them repeatedly for years.”

The indictment alleges that a “senior official in Turkey's diplomatic establishment” facilitated illegal campaign contributions to Adams and also arranged for the mayor and his companions to receive free or discounted flights on Turkish Airlines – which is largely owned by the Turkish government – to France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary and Turkey.

In September 2021, the indictment says, the Turkish official told Adams “that it was now his turn to retaliate against the official” by pressuring the New York City Fire Department to allow the opening of a new, 36-story Turkish consulate building “without a fire inspection and in time for a high-level visit by the Turkish president.”

“At that time, the building would not have passed an inspection by the New York Fire Department,” the indictment states.

Adams “did what he was told” and a New York Police Department officer “was told he would lose his job if he did not comply,” the indictment says.

The building was then opened as requested, the indictment states.

“I look forward to defending myself and the people of this city as I have done throughout my professional career,” Adams said outside Gracie Mansion, surrounded by his supporters, after the indictment was unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The indictment alleges that Adams, a 64-year-old former police captain, received more than $10 million in public grants for campaign contributions by using so-called dummy donors in the United States to conceal the acceptance of foreign campaign contributions.

Download the full indictment.

Beginning in 2014 and “for nearly a decade thereafter, Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, including luxurious international travel, from, among others, wealthy foreign businessmen and at least one Turkish government official who attempted to gain influence over him,” the indictment states.

“By 2018, Adams – who had by then announced his plans to run for mayor of New York City – was not only accepting but soliciting illegal campaign contributions for his 2021 mayoral campaign and other items of value from foreign nationals,” the indictment states.

“As Adams' notoriety and power grew, his foreign patrons sought to capitalize on their corrupt relationships with him, especially when it became clear in 2021 that Adams would become mayor of New York City.”

“Adams agreed and granted him preferential treatment in exchange for the illegal 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 comply with requests from those who had supported his 2021 mayoral campaign with such donations.”

The indictment charges Adams with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery in connection with federal programs, and accepting campaign contributions from a foreign national.

He is also accused of wire fraud, twice soliciting foreign nationals for donations and bribery.

Adams is at least the second New York mayor to face criminal charges during his term in office.

And he is the first official in his administration to be charged in numerous ongoing investigations that also involve the New York Police Department and the city's top school official.

Adams' attorney Alex Spiro said in a statement Thursday morning: “This morning, federal agents showed up at Gracie Mansion to (once again) create a spectacle and (once again) take away Mayor Adams' phone.”

“He was not arrested and is looking forward to his day in court,” Spiro said. “They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have gladly turned it over.”

On Wednesday, even before news of the charges broke, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) called on the mayor to resign, saying the “flood of resignations and vacancies” resulting from various federal investigations into administration officials “threatens the functions of government.”

“For the good of the city, he should resign,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

A growing number of elected officials and other political figures in New York have also called on Adams to resign, including City Treasurer Brad Lander and State Senator Zellnor Myrie, both of whom are running for mayor next year, and former Treasurer Scott Stringer, who is considering a run for City Hall.

If Adams resigns before the end of his first term, he will be succeeded by New York City Ombudsman Jumaane Williams as acting mayor.

In a statement released Thursday, Williams said: “I share the same disbelief and outrage as many other New Yorkers and am angry that our city is currently in this situation.”

“This is a painful time, and the looming unknowns and uncertainties only add to the confusion and chaos at City Hall in an untenable situation,” Williams said. “The legal system presumes innocence until proven guilty, but at the same time these charges are even more comprehensive and serious than anyone imagined. In the face of this evidence, it is not enough to deny guilt and responsibility.”

“It's the duty of federal officials to prove their case, and it's the mayor's duty to prove to New Yorkers that there is a real plan and a way to govern the city effectively and regain trust. And he's running out of time to show that plan.”

There are currently several federal investigations underway against Adams and individuals associated with him and his government.

On Tuesday, city schools Chancellor David Banks told Adams he expects to retire at the end of 2024.

Banks' surprise announcement came weeks after federal authorities seized electronic devices belonging to him, his brother, Deputy Mayor Phil Banks, and his fiancée, Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.

Another of Banks' brothers, Terence, is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan in connection with the awarding of city contacts worth millions of dollars to companies that received those contacts after hiring Terence Banks' consulting firm.

The same prosecutor is currently investigating whether James Caban, the twin brother of former New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban, exploited his ties to his brother and the NYPD to benefit his nightclub security business.

Edward Caban resigned as police chief on September 12, a week after his own phone was seized by federal investigators.

Three days after Edward Caban's resignation, Adams' legal advisor and general counsel Lisa Zornberg also resigned. She said she had “come to the conclusion that I can no longer perform my duties.”

Last Friday, federal investigators executed search warrants at the homes of NYPD Deputy Commissioner Thomas Donlon.

Donlon, a former senior FBI counterterrorism official in New York, said this week that investigators had taken “materials that came into my possession about 20 years ago and have nothing to do with my work with the New York Police Department.”