A federal indictment unsealed Thursday accuses Adams of accepting bribes—including illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel perks—from Turkish nationals and at least one official, during both his time as mayor and as Brooklyn borough president.

A federal indictment unsealed Thursday accuses Eric Adams of accepting bribes—including illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel perks—from Turkish nationals during both his time as mayor and as Brooklyn borough president. He provided “favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received,” investigators say, including pressuring FDNY officials to approve the opening of a Manhattan skyscraper that houses the Turkish Consulate.

Adams maintained his innocence and vowed to remain in office during a chaotic on-street press conference Thursday morning. He is facing five charges, including wire fraud and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and could face a maximum of 45 years in prison if convicted on all counts, according to a joint announcement from the U.S. Southern District of New York, FBI and the city’s Department of Investigation.

“This was a multi-year scheme to buy favor with a single New York City politician on the rise: Eric Adams,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a press briefing detailing the allegations Thursday morning.

The feds accuse the mayor of seeking and accepting straw donations—in which money is funneled from a contributor under the guise of another person’s name—to circumvent campaign finance rules, including limits on how much one individual or business can give, as well as election laws that prohibit foreign donations. These schemes netted Adams’ 2021 election campaign $10 million in matching funds under the city’s public financing program, which is intended to amplify the impact of small, local donors by matching their contributions with public dollars, up to a certain amount.

Some of those same straw contributors also “showered” Adams with perks that the mayor failed to disclose under city conflict of interest rules, according to Williams. This included more than $100,000 in “luxury travel benefits,” like free business class international flights and stays in “opulent hotel rooms in foreign cities.”

“Public office is a privilege. We allege that Mayor Adams abused that privilege and broke the law—laws that are designed to ensure that officials like him serve the people, not the highest bidder, not a foreign bidder, and certainly not a foreign power,” Williams said. “These are bright red lines, and we allege that the mayor crossed them again and again, for years.”

On Thursday morning, Adams staged a defiant press conference in the rain outside of Gracie Mansion, where he stood under a small tent flanked by supporters and clergy members. He delivered remarks as bystanders shouted at him to resign.

“I ask New Yorkers that you wait to hear our defense before making any judgements,” he said, saying he’s being unfairly “demonized” and resisting calls for his resignation. “I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do.”

Adams denied allegations of accepting illegal campaign contributions.

“I’ve been part of many campaigns. I follow the rules, I follow the law,” he said. “We do not participate in straw donors, we do not participate in foreign donors. We know what those rules are and we comply with those rules and I think my attorneys are going to reveal that as we move forward.”

In spite of his reassurances, a number of local leaders pressed Adams to step down Thursday, saying the allegations against him and ensuing legal battle will be a distraction from the day-to-day efforts of governing, as the city faces challenges on a number of fronts—including record-high homelessness and an affordable housing shortage.

In a statement, the good government group Reinvent Albany called on Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove Adams from office “using the powers granted her in Section 34 of the New York State Public Officers Law.” Hochul’s office did not immediately return a request for comment.

“If the Mayor is determined not to resign, he can stymie an orderly and democratic succession while keeping city government paralyzed,” the organization said.

According to the City Charter, should the mayor’s office become vacant, its powers would fall next to the city’s public advocate; the comptroller would come after in the line of succession. The acting mayor would have three days after assuming the role to declare a special election for voters to choose a replacement.

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams issued a statement Thursday that stopped short of calling for Adams to resign, but expressed “disbelief and indignation,” at the indictment details.

“This is a painful time, and the looming unknowns and uncertainties only add to the confusion and chaos at City Hall in an untenable situation,” he said.

“It is federal officials’ obligation to prove their case, it is the mayor’s obligation to prove to New Yorkers that there is a real plan and path to govern the city effectively and regain trust,” Williams continued, “and his time to show that plan is rapidly running out.”

You can read the full indictment against Adams below, or by clicking here. City Limits has also rounded up some highlights from the 57-page document:

• One Turkish official who allegedly facilitated straw donations to Adams’ 2021 campaign also arranged for “free or discounted travel” for the mayor and “companions” on Turkey’s national airline, including trips to France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary and Turkey itself.  
• Because of this arrangement, Adams “flew the Turkish Airline even when doing so was otherwise inconvenient,” the indictment says, describing one 2017 trip when Adams texted his partner—who believed him to be heading to France— that he was “Transferring here. You know first stop is always instanbul [sic].”
• Other perks that Adams is accused of accepting from Turkish businessmen looking to gain his influence: free hotel stays, dinners, a boat tour to the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of Marmara, and a free two-night stay in the Cosmopolitan Suite of the St. Regis Istanbul.
• Adams “repeatedly took steps to shield his solicitation and acceptance of these benefits from public scrutiny,” according to the indictment, including occasionally agreeing to “pay a nominal fee to create the appearance of having paid for travel that was in fact heavily discounted.”

• Adams called in at least one big favor for the parties that allegedly plied him with donations and travel perks: in September 2021, the mayor is accused of pressuring FDNY officials to approve a temporary certificate of occupancy (TCO) for a recently constructed 36-story building located at 821 United Nations Plaza, housing the Turkish Consulate. An FDNY employee who checked out the site flagged “over 60 defects” in the building’s fire system, point blank saying, “this building is not safe to occupy.” But the chief of the FDNY’s Bureau of Fire Prevention reportedly received multiple messages from Adams to secure the TCO, and was told by his superior “that if the FDNY did not assist the Turkish Consulate in obtaining a TCO, both the Chief of Department and the Fire Prevention Chief would lose their jobs.”
• The mayor’s “corrupt relationships” with Turkish nationals allegedly date back as far as 2015, early in Adams’ tenure as Brooklyn Borough President. 
• In 2018, when Adams began raising funds for his 2021 mayoral campaign, he allegedly texted the following to an “undisclosed close supporter”: “You win the race by raising money …. Have to raise money. Everything else is fluff.”
• Also in 2018, an Adams staffer exchanged text messages with one Turkish entrepreneur about how to make contributions from foreign nationals using American donors, according to the indictment. The staffer wrote that it “might cause a big stink later on,” but “I’ll ask anyways.”
• In April 2022, A Turkish official messaged a staffer for Adams, asking for assurances that that the mayor would not make any statement about the Armenian genocide as Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day approached. Adams’ staffer then confirmed this, and the mayor did not make such a statement.
• On Nov. 2, 2023, FBI agents executed search warrants at several locations, including the Brooklyn home of Adams’ head campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. Though not named directly in the indictment, the documents detail how “the Adams Fundraiser” called the mayor five times “before answering their [FBI agents’] repeated knocks at her door.” An “Adams Staffer” whose residence was also searched that day is described as having excused herself to the bathroom while being interviewed by the FBI, where she “deleted the encrypted messaging applications” she’d used to communicate with the mayor and Turkish donors.
• On Nov. 6, 2023, the FBI searched Eric Adams’ electronic devices. Although he had several devices with him, his personal cell phone, which he used for the activities mentioned in the indictment, was not among them. The next day, Adams provided his cell phone in response to a subpoena, but it was locked with a password. Adams claimed he had changed the password the day before to prevent his staff from deleting its contents, but that he had forgotten it, and therefore couldn’t unlock the phone for the FBI.

Federal Indictment Against … by City Limits (New York)

To reach the editor, contact Jeanmarie@citylimits.org