NY Mayor Eric Adams charged with bribery, foreign funding

This story was updated to add new information.

New York Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal bribery, fraud, and campaign finance charges, making him the city's first mayor to be criminally charged while in office.

A 57-page indictment, unsealed Thursday, accuses Adams of corrupt acts going back a decade and says he was a willing agent for the Turkish government, trading influence for illegal campaign funds and free trips around the world.

Adams "abused his position as this city’s highest elected official...to take bribes and solicit illegal campaign contributions," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a press conference.

The indictment accuses Adams of bilking the city's public campaign finance program of $10 million and of receiving $100,000 in free travel to France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkey.

"As Adams' prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him," the indictment said. "Adams agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received."

The mayor, a former police captain, was defiant and vowed not to resign.

“The actions that have unfolded over the last 10 months, there have been leaks, commentary, the demonizing,” Adams told reporters as the charges were made public. “This did not surprise us that we reached this day. I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before you make any judgments.”

'Suspect sources'

Adams has been dogged by questions about his fundraising and other practices since before he was elected mayor in 2021. Federal agents over the summer seized his phone and raided homes associated with his chief campaign fundraiser.

Earlier this month, investigators from the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan, raided top members of his inner circle ? including the police commissioner, who later resigned.

"The first thing that makes this moment in New York City history so sad is that so many people saw it coming right down Broadway," Josh Greenman wrote Thursday in the public affairs journal Vital City.

"When Eric Adams ran for mayor, even those who liked him couldn’t ignore his penchant for raising money from suspect sources and for keeping company with people who treated rules as loose suggestions," Greenman said.

Federal agents raided Adams' official residence Thursday morning.

Nearly a dozen investigators rolled up before dawn at Gracie Mansion, the 220-year-old landmark on Manhattan's Upper East Side, in a black SUV and other vehicles.

Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Adams, said investigators had seized a phone "in an effort to create a spectacle," the New York Times reported.

More: New York City Mayor Eric Adams vows to fight charges in criminal indictment

$10 million in public campaign funds

Adams denied wrongdoing.

“If it’s campaign violations, I know I don’t violate the campaign” laws, Adams said. “If it’s foreign donors, I know I don’t take money from foreign donors.”

The indictment alleged Adams received illegal foreign donations and donations exceeding the legal limit through "straw" donors and then increased his campaign war chest by accepting public funds to match the illegal donations. New York City offers public campaign financing for candidates who agree to certain limits, providing $8 for every $1 raised from smaller donors.

According to the indictment, Adams' campaign received $10 million in public money based on illegal donations.

The case of the Turkish skyscraper

The indictment charges that Adams paid back his Turkish government benefactors by forcing city approval of a new Turkish consulate even though it couldn't pass a fire inspection.

In Sept. 2021 ? after Adams had won the city's Democratic primary, assuring his election in November ?Turkish officials were under pressure to open a new, 36-story, consular skyscraper in Manhattan in time for a visit by their president.

Adams leaned on the city's fire department to push it through, the indictment said, and a top inspection official "was told that he would lose his job if he failed to acquiesce."

"After Adams intervened, the skyscraper opened as requested," the indictment said.

Adams appointee helped indict him

Standing beside U.S. Attorney Damian Williams at a press conference Thursday was Jocelyn Stauber, the city's investigations commissioner, an Adams appointee.“We handled this investigation as we would any other,” Stauber told reporters.

Adams face a storm of calls to resign including city Controller Brad Lander, who is challenging Adams in next year's election. Public Advoate Jumaane Williams, who would take over as acting mayor if Adams resigned, said City Hall was in "in an untenable situation," but stopped short of asking Adams to quit.

“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City," Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, D-N.Y., wrote on X before the charges were unsealed.

A spate of investigations

Adams is reeling from numerous federal investigations of his administration.

His police commissioner, Edward Caban, resigned on Sept. 13 after federal raids targeted top city officials including Caban, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice Philip Banks III, and Schools Chancellor David Banks.

Federal prosecutors have been investigating possible illegal foreign donations to Adams' campaign from Turkey since last year. Investigators are reportedly also probing a possible nightclub protection racket run by elements of the New York Police Department, and city contracts for migrant housing.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NY Mayor Eric Adams charged over bribery, fraud, and foreign donations