New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on Thursday on charges that he took illegal campaign contributions and bribes from foreign nationals in exchange for favours, which included helping Turkish officials get fire safety approvals for a new diplomatic building in the city.
Mr Adams, a former police officer, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment that describes a decade-long trail of crimes.
Despite the corruption case, Mr Adams said he does not plan to resign from his job running the country’s largest city, telling reporters he hopes New Yorkers will wait to hear his legal team’s defence before making any judgments.
“From here, my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city,” he said at a hastily assembled news conference after the charges were made public.
“It’s an unfortunate day. And its a painful day. 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,” he said.
The indictment alleges that Mr Adams “compounded his gains” from the illegal contributions by gaming the city’s matching funds programme, which provides a generous match for small dollar donations.
His campaign received more than 10 million dollars in matching funds as a result of the false certifications, according to the indictment.
Mr Adams allegedly “solicited and demanded” bribes, including free and heavily discounted luxury travel benefits from a Turkish official, the indictment alleges, noting that the official was seeking Mr Adams’ help pertaining to regulations of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan.
Prosecutors allege that Mr Adams also created and instructed others to create fake paper trails in order to falsely suggest he had paid for travel benefits that were actually free. 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 and seized his phone early Thursday.
Mr Adams’ lawyer Alex Spiro said in a statement: “Federal agents appeared this morning at Gracie Mansion in an effort to create a spectacle (again) and take Mayor Adams’ phone (again).”
“They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in.”
Mr Spiro added that the mayor had not been arrested.
In a video speech released on Wednesday night, Mr Adams vowed to fight any charges against him, claiming he had been made a “target” in a case “based on lies”.
“I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit,” he said.
Federal law enforcement agents were seen entering the mayor’s Manhattan residence at dawn on Thursday, with several vehicles bearing federal law enforcement placards parked outside.
The US attorney’s office in Manhattan has declined to comment on the investigation.
An FBI spokesperson declined to comment.
A spokesperson for the mayor did not immediately respond to questions on Thursday morning.
The indictment caps off an extraordinary few weeks in New York City, as federal investigators have honed in on members of Mr Adams’ inner circle, producing a drum-beat of raids, subpoenas and high-level resignations.
Federal prosecutors are believed to be leading multiple, separate inquiries involving Mr 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.
FBI agents had seized Mr Adams’ electronic devices nearly a year ago as part of an investigation focused, at least partly, on campaign contributions and Mr 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 confidantes both in and out of City Hall.
All have denied wrongdoing.
