Federal Prosecutors Charge NYC Mayor Eric Adams: 7 Things We Know So Far

New York City Mayor Eric Adams in New York on Sept. 26, 2024. Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

Federal officials on Thursday announced charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, accusing him of engaging in a multi-year bribery and corruption scheme involving foreign nationals and officials.

The charges against the mayor include one count of bribery; one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals; one count of wire fraud; and two counts of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national.

Criminal Indictment Unsealed

The federal indictment, unsealed Thursday by a judge, alleges that Adams’s crimes date back to 2014 when he was the Brooklyn borough president and stretched until at least 2021. He’s accused of seeking and accepting bribes such as luxury travel from wealthy foreign business officials and at least one Turkish government official.

During his campaign for mayor, in 2021, Adams allegedly sought and took illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals, the indictment said.

Adams “solicited and demanded” bribes, including free and heavily discounted luxury travel benefits from a Turkish official, the indictment alleges, noting that the official was seeking Adams’s help pertaining to regulations of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan.

For his 2021 mayoral campaign, Adams allegedly disguised campaign contributions from Turkish sources by funneling them through U.S. citizens, the indictment said. Those funds allowed Adams to qualify for an additional $10 million in public financing.

Prosecutors alleged Adams would tell others to create “fake paper trails” to create the appearance that he paid or was going to pay for benefits that were given to him for free or at a heavily discounted cost in exchange for favors as an elected official.

The indictment also alleged Adams would pay a nominal sum to create the appearance that he covered the entire cost of a high-price trip or benefit.

Luxury Trips

He is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars in free flights and upgrades on Turkey’s national airline for him and his companions, stays in luxury hotel suites, as well as other amenities such as a car and driver, boat tour, a Turkish bath at a seaside hotel, and high-end restaurant meals.

In 2017, when Adams was the Brooklyn Borough president, he allegedly accepted a discounted stay at the five-star St. Regis Istanbul hotel, owned by a businesswoman who attempted to “ingratiate herself” with the mayor, according to the indictment.

Although the suite would have cost him about $7,000 for two nights, the mayor paid around $700, prosecutors alleged. Adams didn’t disclose the trip as an elected official, they added.

“As Adams’ 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,” the indictment stated. “Adams agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received.”

Adams allegedly accepted well over $100,000 in luxury travel overall, said Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan.

“This was a multi-year scheme to buy favor with a single New York City politician on the rise,” Williams said at a news conference.

Turkish Consulate

In one instance, Adams pressured city officials to waive safety inspections and allow Turkey’s new 36-story consulate to open, prosecutors alleged. The Democrat faces five criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Prosecutors said that when he became mayor, he allegedly attempted to return a favor to Turkish officials for alleged bribes that were provided to him. A Turkish government official in 2021 told Adams, according to prosecutors, that it “was his turn to repay” the official by applying pressure on the city’s fire department to approve the Turkish consulate building in Manhattan.

According to the indictment, the building would have failed inspection at the time amid concerns over its safety.

“He told the public he received no gifts, even though he was secretly being showered with them,” Williams told reporters Thursday.

FBI Searches Home

Early Thursday morning, FBI agents were seen going into Adams’s home in Manhattan and federal officials were seen parked outside the mayor’s mansion.

“Federal agents appeared this morning at Gracie Mansion in an effort to create a spectacle (again) and take Mayor Adams phone (again),” his lawyer, Alex Spiro, said in a statement. “They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in.”

Adams Refutes Charges, Won’t Resign

Adams said on Thursday morning that he won’t resign from office after a judge unsealed the indictment against him.

At a news conference outside Gracie Mansion, Adams said he doesn’t plan to resign from his job running the country’s largest city, telling reporters he hopes New Yorkers will wait to hear his legal team’s defense before making any judgments.

“It is clear—everyone that knows me knows I follow campaign rules and I follow the law. That is how I live my life,” Adams told the press event, adding that he “expected” the charges to be filed against him and is “not surprised.”

“It’s an unfortunate day. And it’s a painful day,” Adams said. “But inside all of that is a day when we will finally reveal why, for 10 months, I’ve gone through this.”

He adding that “I look forward to defending myself and defending the people of this city.”

“I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers,” he said, as protesters nearby were heard calling on him to resign from office.

In a video released on Wednesday night on social media, Adams noted that “many may say I should resign because I cannot manage the city while fighting the case” and said he has no plans to remove himself from office.

Should he resign, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams would become interim mayor. A special election would then be convened.

Calls to Step Down

Several New York elected officials, including the city comptroller, Brad Lander, have called on Adams to resign.

In a statement on X, Lander said that Adams deserves due process but added that “the most appropriate path forward is for him to step down so that New York City can get the full focus its leadership demands.”

At the federal level, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) wrote on social media that she believes Adams cannot continue being the mayor of New York City due to the “flood of resignations” and “nonstop investigations” under his watch.

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

Former Manhattan borough president and current mayoral candidate Scott Stringer, a Democrat, wrote on X that Adams should resign to allow for better “focus on the business of the city,” adding: “His legal fight is not our fight.”

Other NYC Officials

The indictment against Adams has been the capstone of a tumultuous period in New York City’s history as federal officials have been investigating other members of the Adams administration, including two of its top police officers. Those investigations appeared to have taken a swifter pace in recent weeks.

Edward Caban, the then-New York Police Department commissioner, was forced to resign as part of a separate federal investigation before he resigned from office earlier in September.

Days later, New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks’s home was searched by federal officials, and his cellphones were seized. Banks announced that he would retire from his city position by the end of 2024.

Over the past weekend, interim NYPD Chief Timothy Donlon, a former FBI agent, announced in a statement that a federal agency searched his two homes. Few details have been provided about the incident since then.

Beyond that, Lisa Zornberg, the mayor’s chief counsel, announced in mid-September was stepping down from office in a brief resignation statement.

“I am tendering my resignation, effective today, as I have concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position,” Zornberg wrote.

Reuters contributed to this report.