Adams, indicted on corruption and other charges, says he will not resign

Mayor Eric Adams was indicted Thursday on charges that he took illegal campaign contributions and bribes from foreign nationals in exchange for favors that included helping Turkish officials get fire safety approvals for a new diplomatic building in the city.

Adams, a former captain in the New York City police department, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment that describes a decade-long trail of crimes.

Speaking to reporters outside of Gracie Mansion shortly after the five-count indictment was unsealed and surrounded by a coterie of longtime supporters, several of whom spoke in his defense, the mayor vowed to stay in office. He asked New Yorkers to hear out his defense before coming to any conclusions. 

“My day to day will not change. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do, and the 300,000-plus employees of our city government will continue to do their jobs because this is what we do as New Yorkers,” he said as hecklers shouted for him to resign.  

The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan alleges in the indictment that Adams “not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions” to his mayoral campaign. A senior official in the Turkish diplomatic establishment “facilitated many straw donations” to Adams and 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.

Adams allegedly sought the payments, which included luxury travel benefits for which he did not pay or that was heavily discounted from a Turkish official, in part in exchange for favors, the 52-page indictment details. Among those were helping Turkish officials get fire safety approvals for the Turkish House, a 36-story skyscraper across from the United Nations that houses the Turkish Mission to the UN and the Turkish Consulate that was completed in 2021.

Adams “compounded his gains” from the illegal campaign contributions by gaming the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small dollar donations. His campaign received more than $10,000 in matching funds as a result of the false certifications, according to the indictment.

In outlining the stunning charges, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, Damian Williams, said Adams began accepting gifts “at least as early as 2016.”

“Mayor Adams engaged in a long running conspiracy in which he solicited and knowingly accepted illegal campaign contributions from foreign donors and corporations,” Williams said during a press conference. “As we allege, Mayor Adams took these contributions even though he knew they were illegal, and even though he knew these contributions were attempts by a Turkish government official and Turkish businessmen to buy influence with him.”

Adams sought and ultimately accepted “well over $100,000 in luxury travel benefits, such as free business class flights and “opulent hotel rooms in foreign cities," the U.S. attorney said.

Rather than disclose these gifts, as required by campaign contribution rules, but “year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark," Williams continued.

Williams said the alleged corruption outlined in the indictment “is long-running,” and noted that Adams continued to solicit foreign money “in secret” into 2021. 

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 and seized his phone early Thursday

In response to a question about the charges, Adams added, “Everyone that knows me knows that I follow campaign rules and I follow the law. That is how I live my life.”

In a video released late Wednesday in which he says it is his “belief that the federal government intends to charge me with crimes,” a visibly worn Adams pushed back on the impending charges, calling them “entirely false, based on lies.” He said he would not resign. 

“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became,” he said in the video. “For months, leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty…. I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit.”

11 months of turmoil

Since news broke Wednesday night that the mayor would be indicted, several prominent city officials, among them some running for mayor, have called on him to resign. 

“Mayor Adams, like all New Yorkers, deserves due process, the presumption of innocence, and his day in court,” City Comptroller Brad Lander said in a statement. “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.  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 announced in late July his intent to challenge Adams in the Democratic primary next year. Queens State Senator Jessica Ramos, another declared candidate, who did not outright call for Adams to resign, said the coming charges against the mayor “feel like a profound betrayal,” particularly given his mandate to return the city to prosperity following the pandemic. 

“Weeks of FBI raids, indictments, and resignations have shaken our city,” she said in a statement. “Right now, New Yorkers feel frustrated and abandoned. This above all else, is unforgivable.”

Hours before the charges were announced, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on Adams to resign, the first nationally prominent Democrat to do so. She cited the federal criminal investigations into the mayor's administration and the string of unexpected departures of top city officials. "I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City," Ocasio-Cortez wrote on social media.

State Senator Zellnor Myrie, who is exploring a run for mayor, also called on Adams to resign.

“We live in the greatest city in the world — and the Mayor must be fully focused on delivering for the millions who call it home,” he said in a statement. “Each New Yorker deserves a Mayor who is dedicated to serving our communities, and who upholds the dignity and integrity this office requires. We need a leader who is fully focused, without distraction, on the enormous challenges we face — from housing affordability to public safety. A mayor under the weight of a serious indictment can no longer do that — and today I am calling on him to resign.”

At the outset of the City Council’s press briefing ahead of its meeting Thursday, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, whose relationship with the mayor has often been rocky, said the mayor deserved due process and did not call for his resignation. But, she added, the overriding consideration has to be whether Adams and his administration can continue governing without undue distraction. 

“I remain deeply concerned about the impact of all of this on our city government and on New Yorkers. This is a painful time and a distraction for the hardworking public servants in City Hall and throughout our city government. My concern is for them.”

Adams later said that for now the decision rests with the mayor on whether he remains in office. “I will continue to work with the mayor and his administration, as we always have,” despite, she said, “regardless, you know, of the chaos and confusion.”

For much of the last year, Adams has faced growing legal peril, with multiple federal investigations into top advisers producing a drumbeat of subpoenas, searches and high-level departures that has thrust City Hall into crisis. In the last two weeks alone, the police chief who oversees the country's largest police force and the schools chancellor who is in charge of the nation's biggest school district both announced their resignations.

The federal investigations into Adams administration first emerged publicly on Nov. 2, 2023, when FBI agents conducted an early morning raid on the Brooklyn home of Adams' chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs.

Days later, FBI agents seized the mayor's phones and iPad as he was leaving an event in Manhattan. The interaction was disclosed several days later by the mayor's attorney.

Then on Sept. 4, federal investigators seized electronic devices from then-NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, Schools Chancellor David Banks, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and other trusted confidantes of Adams both in and out of City Hall.

A week after the searches, Caban announced his resignation, telling officers that he didn't want the investigations "to create a distraction." And this week, David Banks announced that he would retire at the end of the year.

If Adams were to resign, he would be replaced by the city's public advocate, Jumaane Williams, who would then schedule a special election.

Governor Kathy Hochul, who had not publicly commented on the looming indictment as of late Wednesday, has the power to remove Adams from office. Her office did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday night.

It was not immediately clear when the charges would be made public or when Adams might have to appear in court.

The indictment marks a stunning turn for Adams, a former police captain who won election nearly three years ago to become the second Black mayor of the nation's largest city on a platform that promised a law-and-order approach to reducing crime.

Adams’ former chief of staff, Frank Carone, speaking to reporters after leaving Gracie Mansion late Wednesday, said Adams had not seen the indictment and did not know what he was being charged with. He said the mayor should “absolutely not” resign.

“Just like everybody else, he’s innocent until proven guilty,” Carone said. “He deserves his day in court, and he’ll have it.”