New York City Mayor Eric Adams charged with corruption offences

New York City Mayor Eric Adams filled campaign war chests with illegal foreign contributions and crisscrossed the globe on the dime of Turkish nationals according to an explosive indictment.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams filled his campaign war chests with illegal foreign political contributions and crisscrossed the globe on the dime of Turkish nationals without disclosing the free perks, federal prosecutors said Thursday in a stunning indictment of the leader of the nation’s largest city.

Adams, a Democrat, received more than $100,000 in secret benefits, including free flights on a Turkish airline and hotel stays, for about a decade, according to the 57-page indictment unsealed Thursday. Adams took steps to try to cover up the perks, including by creating fake paper trails and deleting messages with staffers involved in the conduct, prosecutors said. He faces five criminal counts, including for bribery, fraud and soliciting a contribution by a foreign national.

“This was a multiyear scheme to buy favour with a single New York City politician on the rise: Eric Adams,” said Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Williams said the investigation continued. “We will hold more people accountable,” he said.

Adams, 64 years old, urged New Yorkers not to accept prosecutors’ narrative. “I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defence before making any judgments,” he said. “From here my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams exits Gracie Mansion in New York City. Picture: Getty Images via AFP.

While other New York City mayors have faced corruption-related investigations, Adams is the city’s first sitting mayor to be indicted in modern history. His administration faces at least four federal probes, and within the past several weeks top aides – including his police commissioner, schools chancellor and chief counsel – have announced their resignation.

Adams took office in 2022, after running a centrist campaign focused on addressing crime in the city. He had more than a 20-year career in law enforcement, including service as an NYPD captain. He is up for re-election next year.

Adams did favours for some donors, who saw him as a promising ally and thought he could someday become president, prosecutors said. At the request of a Turkish official who helped provide luxury travel, Adams in 2021 helped facilitate the opening of a 36-story Turkish consular building without a fire inspection, prosecutors said. Adams also stopped associating with a community centre affiliated with a political movement that was hostile to the Turkish government, according to the indictment. In another instance, Adams agreed not to make any statement about the Armenian genocide as mayor.

In a trip that involved stops in France, Turkey and China, Adams accepted three free round-trip business-class tickets, as well as a heavily discounted stay in a suite in the St. Regis Istanbul, the indictment said.

Adams would fly the Turkish airline because of the free tickets, even when it wasn’t convenient, according to prosecutors. In the summer of 2017, Adams’s partner was surprised to learn he had flown to Turkey when his final destination was France, the indictment said. “Transferring here. You know first stop is always Istanbul,” Adams texted to his partner, prosecutors said.

The mayor never disclosed the benefits in mandatory financial disclosure forms as an elected city official, prosecutors said.

Adams began building relationships with Turkish nationals within a year of becoming the Brooklyn borough president in 2014 and sought illegal contributions from them up until 2023, according to the indictment. Donations from foreign nationals were funnelled through individuals in the U.S. to make them appear that they were legal, according to prosecutors. As part of the scheme, he relied on a city campaign finance program that provides public funds to candidates that are intended to amplify small donations, the indictment said.

Since taking office, the mayor has dismissed scrutiny of his ties to people with past run-ins with the law. He has proudly described his mentoring of a bishop with a rap sheet and openly partied with two restaurateurs who were each convicted of a felony. His deputy mayor for public safety, Philip Banks, was an unindicted co-conspirator in a prior federal corruption probe.

Adams has said he believes in giving people second chances.

At the same time, his campaign and administration have been swept up in corruption cases big and small. Several donors have been charged in schemes involving illegal political donations. Last year the city’s former Department of Buildings commissioner was charged in state court with taking bribes in exchange for using his position to provide favours to associates.

Earlier this year, federal prosecutors charged 70 current and former New York City public housing employees with accepting illicit payments in exchange for awarding work to contractors.

Last week, two former New York City fire chiefs were charged with accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for expediting safety inspections.

Since news of the indictment emerged late Wednesday, Adams has faced growing calls for his resignation, including from nearly two dozen city council members. City Comptroller Brad Lander, a Democrat who is running against Adams in next year’s primary, said the case would distract Adams from running the city.

“The most appropriate path forward is for him to step down so that New York City can get the full focus its leadership demands,” Lander said in a statement.

John Liu, a state senator from Queens, said the city needed a mayor who would put all his energy into governing, “Mayor Adams is simply unable to do that for the foreseeable future,” he said.

Adams has sought to play down concerns that the probes have placed a strain on his administration.

“This city government is a deep bench, and we have a reservoir of talent, ” Adams said this week.

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