New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with bribery and taking illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources, an unsealed indictment has revealed, throwing the United States’ largest city’s government into turmoil.
In a five-count indictment on Thursday, Adams was charged with crimes such as conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery. Prosecutors have accused him of offering favours and influence in exchange for luxury travel and airline benefits.
Adams, a 64-year-old Democrat who became the first of the city’s 110 mayors to be criminally charged while in office, has denied the allegations and said he has no plans to step down as mayor.
“It’s an unfortunate day. And it’s a painful day,” he said during a news conference on Thursday.
“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.”
The 57-page indictment alleges that Adams, a former police officer, “solicited and demanded” bribes and accepted various travel benefits from Turkish businessmen and government officials.
In exchange, he allegedly pressured city officials to waive safety inspections for a 36-storey Turkish diplomatic facility, according to prosecutors.
The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan also alleged that a Turkish official helped facilitate “many straw donations” for Adams’s mayoral campaign, along with travel perks to destinations such as France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkey.
Federal agents searched Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, earlier on Thursday.
While Adams has struck a defiant tone – insisting that he will “continue to do my job as mayor” – the incident has thrown his political future into serious doubt.
At the news conference Adams held on Thursday, protesters chanted “abuse of power” and shouted that he was “corrupt” and an “embarrassment”.
A number of figures are expected to challenge Adams for the mayoral seat in 2025, if he is able to run for re-election at all.
Meanwhile, some leading local politicians, such as progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, have already called on him to step down.
“Mayor Adams, like all New Yorkers, deserves due process, the presumption of innocence, and his day in court,” Brad Lander, a New York City comptroller who could challenge Adams, said in a social media post.
“However, it is clear that defending himself against serious federal charges will require a significant amount of the time and attention needed to govern this great city,” Lander said.
“The most appropriate path forward is for him to step down so that New York City can get the full focus its leadership demands.”
