New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with bribery and illegally soliciting campaign contributions from a foreign national, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday after a long-running investigation that has emboldened the largest U.S. city. The government has been thrown into turmoil.
Adams faces a total of five criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Prosecutors said he sought and accepted benefits, including luxury travel, from wealthy foreign businessmen and that a Turkish government official tried to gain influence over him.
Earlier Thursday, federal agents searched the mayor’s Gracie Mansion home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. According to a Reuters witness, a black sport utility vehicle with a placard reading “Federal Law Enforcement” on its dashboard was parked outside the residence.
About a dozen people in business attire carrying briefcases and duffel bags were seen wandering the grounds of the mansion, the witness said.
Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro accused the officers of trying to “make a scene” and said they took the mayor’s phone. Spiro said Adams is “looking forward to his day in court.”
Adams, a Democrat who became the first of the city’s 110 mayors to be criminally charged while in office, said in a video statement Wednesday night that he expected to be charged — and that the allegations were “completely false, false. Will be based on.
In her video message, Adams vowed to remain in office fighting any charges, rejecting calls for her resignation from other Democratic politicians.
Adams said, “If I am charged, I know I am innocent. I will request an immediate trial, so New Yorkers can hear the truth.”
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul, also a Democrat, has the power to remove Adams from office, but the process is complicated, said Bennett Gershman, a professor at Pace University Law School in Manhattan.
Resignation of top city officials
The case is likely to complicate any Adams bid for re-election in 2025. Other Democratic politicians, including New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, are planning to challenge Adams — once a key ally of Democratic President Joe Biden — for the party’s nomination.
Before news of Adams’ conviction broke, U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also a Democrat, became the first member of Congress to urge him to step down, saying it would be “for the good of the city.”
The Times, citing a search warrant, reported in early November 2023 that federal authorities were investigating possible acceptance of illegal donations by Adams’s 2021 campaign, including from the Turkish government.
The Times said the investigation by the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan focuses on whether Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign conspired to funnel foreign money into the campaign through a straw-donor scheme with a Brooklyn construction company Was.
According to the Times, authorities have also sought information about Adams’ interactions with Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan.
Adams, a 64-year-old former police officer who rose to the rank of captain, has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and said he is cooperating with the investigation.
There has been political turmoil in New York for the last one month. Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned on September 12, a week after FBI agents seized his phone. A few days later, Adams’ chief legal counsel resigned, saying she could “no longer function effectively” in the position.
On Wednesday, David Banks, the city’s public schools chancellor, said he would retire at the end of the year, just weeks after the Times reported that his phones were seized by federal agents.