Feds charge NYC mayor with selling his influence to foreign nationals

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted Thursday on federal charges that he took illegal campaign contributions and bribes from foreign nationals, including lavish overseas trips, in exchange for favors that included helping Turkish officials bypass a fire safety inspection for a new diplomatic tower in the city.

Adams, a Democrat and former police captain, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment outlining a decade-long trail of corruption that began when he served as an elected official in Brooklyn and continued through his mayoral administration.

Among other things, prosecutors allege that Adams received free and steeply discounted flight upgrades valued at more than $100,000, as well as campaign contributions from straw donors, some of which helped him qualify for more than $10 million in matching public campaign funds.

Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for Manhattan, said at a news conference that Adams sold his influence to a senior Turkish official and others who engaged in a “multiyear scheme to buy favor with a single New York politician on the rise.”

In exchange for the bribes, the official asked Adams to take actions that appeared to benefit the Turkish regime, including expediting the fire safety inspection at a consulate building and not releasing a statement on Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day, according to the indictment.

Adams had a duty to disclose gifts he received, but year after year “kept the public in the dark,” the U.S. attorney added.

At a separate news conference outside Gracie Mansion, Adams denied wrongdoing and said he doesn’t plan to resign. Flanked by prominent Black clergy members, Adams, who is the city’s second Black mayor, lashed out at federal prosecutors and claimed they had leaked information about the investigation in an effort “to try this case publicly.”

“It’s an unfortunate day and its a painful day,” Adams added. “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.”

Protesters heckled Adams as he addressed the media, with some chanting “resign” as police circled them.