Feds charge NYC mayor with selling his influence to foreign nationals. He says he won't resign

By JAKE OFFENHARTZ

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted Thursday on federal charges that he took illegal campaign contributions and bribes from foreign nationals, including lavish overseas trips, in exchange for favors that included helping Turkish officials bypass a fire safety inspection for a new diplomatic tower in the city.

Adams, a Democrat and former police captain, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment outlining a decade-long trail of corruption that began when he served as an elected official in Brooklyn and continued through his mayoral administration.

Among other things, prosecutors allege that Adams received free and steeply discounted flight upgrades valued at more than $100,000, as well as campaign contributions from straw donors, some of which helped him qualify for more than $10 million in matching public campaign funds.

Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for Manhattan, said at a news conference that Adams sold his influence to a senior Turkish official and others who engaged in a “multiyear scheme to buy favor with a single New York politician on the rise.”

In exchange for the bribes, the official asked Adams to take actions that appeared to benefit the Turkish regime, including expediting the fire safety inspection at a consulate building and not releasing a statement on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, according to the indictment.

Adams had a duty to disclose gifts he received, but year after year “kept the public in the dark,” the U.S. attorney added.

At a separate news conference outside Gracie Mansion, Adams denied wrongdoing and said he doesn't plan to resign. Flanked by prominent Black clergy members, Adams, who is the city's second Black mayor, lashed out at federal prosecutors and claimed they had leaked information about the investigation in an effort “to try this case publicly.”

“It's an unfortunate day and its a painful day," Adams added. “But inside all of that is a day when we will finally reveal why, for 10 months, I’ve gone through this. And I look forward to defending myself.”

Protesters heckled Adams as he addressed the media, with some chanting “resign" as police circled them.

Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to remove Adams from office. Her spokesperson, Avi Small, issued a statement late Wednesday saying the governor was aware of the reports about the indictment but that it was premature to comment at that time. After the charges were announced Thursday, Hochul told reporters she would offer thoughts about it later in the day.

If Adams were to resign, he would be immediately replaced by Jumaane Williams, a progressive Democrat who serves as the city’s public advocate. He would then schedule a special election.

In a statement Thursday, the public advocate did not explicitly call for Adams to step down, but he said Adams' time to show he can effectively govern and regain the city's trust “is rapidly running out.”

Prosecutors allege that Adams sought and accepted illegal contributions funneled to his campaign through an unnamed official in the Turkish diplomatic establishment. The official arranged for Adams and his companions to receive free or discounted travel on Turkey’s national airline to destinations including France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkey, the indictment alleges.

Additionally, Adams sought illegal campaign contributions from foreign officials, then “compounded his gains” by gaming the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small-dollar donations. In total, his campaign received more than $10 million in matching public funds, which are only supposed to be available to candidates who play by the rules, according to the indictment.

In September 2021, a Turkish official told Adams it was time to repay him for the contributions and benefits by pressuring the fire department to facilitate the opening of the consulate without a fire inspection, in time for a high-profile visit by Turkey’s president. That request would have been a few months before Adams took office, but after it was clear he would become mayor.

Even after a fire department official warned that major defects at the consulate building had left it “unsafe to occupy,” Adams pushed safety officials to allow it to open. Days later, Adams relayed news of the approval to the Turkish official, who called Adams a “true friend of Turkey,” the indictment stated. Adams responded: "You are my brother. I am hear (sic) to help,” according to the indictment.

Several months later, the Turkish official messaged an Adams staffer with another request: that the mayor “not make any statement about the Armenian Genocide" ahead of an April remembrance day, according to the indictment. The staffer confirmed that Adams wouldn't mention it, which he didn't, prosecutors said. The Turkish government denies that the 1915 killing of an estimated 1.5 million Armenians qualifies as a genocide.

At times, Adams created and instructed others to create fake paper trails in order to falsely suggest he had paid for travel benefits that were actually free, prosecutors allege. He also deleted messages with others involved in his misconduct, at one point assuring a co-conspirator that he “always” deleted her text messages, according to the indictment.

The charges were made public hours after FBI agents entered the mayor’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, and seized his phone early Thursday, capping an extraordinary few weeks in New York City that have seen a drum-beat of raids, subpoenas and high-level resignations of members of Adams' inner circle.

At the U.S. attorney's news conference, he said the corruption investigation would continue.

Federal prosecutors are believed to be leading multiple, separate inquiries involving Adams and his senior aides, relatives of those aides, campaign fundraising and possible influence peddling of the police and fire departments.

In the last two weeks alone, the city’s police commissioner and head of the school’s system have announced their resignations.

Adams spent 22 years in New York City’s police department before going into politics, first as a state senator and then as Brooklyn borough president. He was elected as the city’s second Black mayor in 2021.

FBI agents had seized Adams’ electronic devices nearly a year ago as part of an investigation focused, at least partly, on campaign contributions and Adams’ interactions with the Turkish government. Because the charges were sealed, it was unknown whether they dealt with those same matters.

In early September, federal investigators seized devices from his police commissioner, schools chancellor, two deputy mayors and other trusted confidants both in and out of City Hall.

All have denied wrongdoing.

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This story was updated to correct that prosecutors say Adams' campaign received more than $10 million, not more than $10,000, in matching public funds.