New York City Mayor Eric Adams indicted on charges that he accepted bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources

Manhattan federal prosecutors on Thursday charged Mayor Eric Adams with five counts of bribery, wire fraud and solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national, alleging that as far back as 2016, when he was Brooklyn borough president, he began seeking gifts and campaign donations from wealthy foreign businessmen and at least one Turkish official.

Though word of the federal probe into Adams had leaked out nearly a year ago, the charges dealt what could be a fatal blow to an administration already staggering under the weight of at least three other investigations. Adams, 64, a Democrat, is the first mayor since the five boroughs were incorporated into New York City to be criminally charged while in office.

A defiant Adams, speaking Thursday morning outside Gracie Mansion, denied the allegations, vowing to continue in his elected role and rebuking calls to step down. Flanked by supporters including his longtime mentor, the Rev. Herbert Daughtry, and New York State NAACP president Hazel Dukes, Adams fended off hecklers in the crowd.

"I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million people that I was elected to do," he said. "And the 300,000-plus employees of our city government will continue to do their jobs."

The 57-page indictment alleges a yearslong scheme by Adams and his staff to trade foreign campaign cash and travel gifts for favorable treatment by New York City's dense bureaucracy.

When Adams threw his hat in the ring for the 2021 mayoral election, "his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him," according to the federal indictment, unsealed Thursday morning.

"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," court papers say.

The mayor also hid more than $120,000 in free luxury travel benefits: deluxe suites in foreign hotels, upgrades to business class and expensive meals from Turkish businesspeople  and the official, who expected favors from Adams in return, prosecutors charge. He flew on Turkish Airlines to France, China, Sri Lanka and other far-flung locales — trips paid for or heavily subsidized by foreign nationals, according to prosecutors. He would allegedly fly through Turkey, even when that route was indirect, so he could take the airline.

Adams obscured the travel freebies by creating fake invoices and falsely reporting them as campaign expenses much lower than their actual value, according to the feds.

The mayor sought to circumvent campaign finance laws on contribution limitations and the federal restriction on foreign governments or individuals donating to U.S. election campaigns by filtering the money through straw donors, according to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, whose office is prosecuting the case.

In one instance, Adams returned the travel favors, prosecutors say, by pressuring the FDNY to open a 36-story Turkish consulate in Manhattan after an inspection deemed it unsafe, to correspond with a visit from the country’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. FDNY officials believed they would lose their jobs if they did not comply, according to Williams.
 

Beginning in 2016, when he was the Brooklyn borough president, federal authorities said Adams solicited illegal campaign funds from Turkish businesses and laundered them through straw donors. As a candidate for mayor, he opted into a city program that provided matching funds — $8 of public money for each $1 of private donation — despite the fact that the program prohibited foreign contributions and straw donors, according to court papers.

"Mayor Adams took these contributions even though he knew they were illegal, and even though he knew these contributions were attempts by a Turkish government official and Turkish businessmen to buy influence with him; we also allege that the mayor sought and accepted well over $100,000 in luxury travel benefits from some of the same foreign actors who arranged many of the illegal campaign contributions," Williams said at a morning news conference.

Long Island lawyer Tim Sini, who is representing Turkish Airlines, said his client is cooperating with investigators.

"Turkish Airlines has been complying with law enforcement’s requests for information, and at no point has been accused of any wrongdoing by the government," said Sini, the former Suffolk district attorney.

The indictment is a stunning turn for an ex-cop elected New York City mayor on a law-and-order platform, but whose mayoralty has been dogged by investigations into cronyism, graft and bribery to enrich his friends and himself.

Adams asked New Yorkers to hear his legal defense before rushing to judgment.

"From here my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city," he said.

Adams is scheduled to be arraigned Friday at noon in front of Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker. His attorney, Alex Spiro, subsequently sent a letter to the court asking for the arraignment to be postponed until Monday or Tuesday.

Trips to France, Turkey and more

Prosecutors charge the graft began in October 2016 when the mayor and his girlfriend bought tickets to Istanbul for $2,286, and through his illicit beneficiaries, who were not named in the court papers, he was upgraded to business class at a $15,000 value.

In July and August 2017, Adams, a relative and his liaison with the Asian American community allegedly traveled for free to Nice, France; Istanbul; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Beijing — trips that were valued at $35,000. During his stop in Istanbul, a Turkish businessperson and eventual illegal campaign contributor put Adams up in the luxury Bentley Suite in the city’s St. Regis Hotel, which she owned, prosecutors said. Adams paid $600 for the two-night stay that would cost anyone else $7,000, the indictment said. That October, he jetted to Nepal via Istanbul and Beijing, then back to New York for free, prosecutors said, estimating the cost of those tickets to be about $16,000.

None of the alleged trips or the hotel stay showed up on Adams's mandatory financial disclosure forms to the city, which requires reporting gifts of $1,000 or more.

Prosecutors said Adams sometimes used a low-level employee in the Brooklyn borough president’s office to pay his expenses and then reimbursed the person in cash as a way to hide his paper trail.

In 2021, as the campaign for mayor heated up, Adams told an associate how important fundraising was to his victory in the election, according to prosecutors. "You win the race by raising money ... Have to raise money," according to an Adams text provided by the U.S. attorney’s office. "Everything else is fluff."

Prosecutors said  the scheme to raise and hide foreign campaign donations continued into the fall of 2023, when the federal investigation became public. Federal investigators said  after Adams and his coconspirators became aware of the probe they tried to cover it up, deleting messages and private phone apps. Adams reset his password for his personal phone after FBI agents subpoenaed it, prosecutors said, and told them he forgot the new password.

Challengers pounce on news of indictment

Federal agents Thursday morning again seized a cellphone belonging to Adams from Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence in Manhattan. 

Adams' challengers in the mayoral race, which is next year, pounced on the news and called for him to resign. Adams, who was elected in 2021, is running for reelection.

"Eric Adams is indicted. There is simply zero chance that the wheels of government will move forward from this full steam ahead. Instead, we are left with a broken down train wreck of a municipal government," said a statement from Scott Stringer, the former city comptroller, who is eyeing a run for mayor.

Zellnor Myrie, a state senator who's looking to unseat Adams, said in a statement: "This is a sad day for the city, and especially painful for so many Black New Yorkers who put our hope and faith in this Mayor."

The city's public advocate, Jumaane Williams — who would become mayor if Adams were to vacate the job — said in a statement that he feels "the same disbelief and indignation that I know many New Yorkers feel, upset that this is where our city is in this moment."

"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. Justice presumes innocence until proven guilty, at the same time, these charges are even more sweeping and severe than imagined. In the face of this evidence, it is not enough to deflect blame and deny responsibility," he said.

The governor has the power to remove a mayor, per the New York City charter. Gov. Kathy Hochul told reporters that it would be "irresponsible" of her to indicate any action she might take.

She put out a statement Thursday night saying: "My focus is on protecting the people of New York and ensuring stability in the City. While I review my options and obligations as the Governor of New York, I expect the Mayor to take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure the people of New York City are being well-served by their leaders."

The city charter also establishes an Inability Committee — a group of appointed and elected officials, some appointed by Adams — that can kick a mayor out.

Investigations of Adams dramatically escalated last year, when his electronic devices were seized by the FBI.

During the summer, the U.S. attorney's office issued subpoenas to City Hall, Adams' campaign and Adams himself, reportedly seeking information about Adams' schedule, his travel abroad and links to the Turkish government.

And earlier this month, federal agents seized electronic devices from several top aides to Adams, including his schools chancellor, then-police commissioner, senior adviser, first deputy and a deputy for public safety.

Within days, the police commissioner, Edward Caban, resigned. There is reportedly an investigation into Caban and his twin brother, who is also a former cop, revolving around a potential protection racket focused on bars and nightclubs.

On Tuesday, the schools chancellor, David Banks, announced he would step down by the end of 2024.

That resignation came less than two weeks after the mayor's chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, a staunch defender of Adams at news conferences, quit her role. She wrote in a resignation letter: "I can no longer effectively serve in my position."

Earlier this week, at a news conference without Zornberg, or any replacement for her, Adams said he would not be resigning.

"I’m stepping up," Adams said, "not stepping down."

With Vera Chinese, Yancey Roy and Anthony M. DeStefano