By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – New York City Mayor Eric Adams was charged by the U.S. Department of Justice in a five-count criminal indictment unsealed on Thursday, becoming the city’s first sitting mayor to face criminal charges.
The counts include bribery, wire fraud, two counts of soliciting contributions by foreign nationals, and conspiracy to commit each of those crimes, covering alleged misconduct over nearly a decade.
Adams, 64, could face up to 45 years in prison. He said he was innocent and pledged: “I will continue to do my job as mayor.”
The following are some accusations in the indictment, and have not been proven in court:
* Adams sought and accepted illegal contributions from foreign nationals to his successful 2021 mayoral campaign in exchange for favorable treatment. He planned to solicit more illegal contributions for his 2025 reelection bid, according to the indictment.
* Illegal contributions were funneled through U.S.-based “straw” donors who falsely certified they provided the money. Many donations were arranged by a senior Turkish diplomat. Prosecutors said among those involved were an Adams staffer, the owner of a Turkish university, and a promoter who sought to leverage Adams’ “considerable fame” in Turkey to benefit clients.
* Adams defrauded New York City and stole more than $10 million of public funds by applying for matching funds for his 2021 campaign based on the illegal contributions, according to the indictment. The funds were intended to match small donations from New York City residents, to encourage candidates to engage with average New Yorkers.
* The Turkish diplomat arranged for Adams and companions to receive free or discounted travel on Turkish Airlines to Turkey, China, France, Hungary, India and Sri Lanka, as well as free hotel rooms, meals and entertainment at high-end establishments in Turkey. Adams began secretly accepting free travel in 2016, when he was president of New York City’s borough of Brooklyn, prosecutors said.
In one example in the indictment, Adams paid less than $600 combined to spend four nights in 2017 and 2019 in suites at the St. Regis Istanbul hotel that should have cost $10,000.
Adams did not disclose the travel benefits in his annual financial disclosures. He was accused of sometimes instructing others to create fake paper trails to suggest he paid for or planned to pay for them.
* Adams and his staffer exchanged text messages in March 2019 about another trip to Turkey for which travel would be arranged. The staffer texted Adams: “To be o[n the] safe side Please Delete all messages you send me.” Adams responded: “Always do.”
* Adams pressured the city’s fire department in September 2021 to let Turkey open its new, 36-story consulate near the United Nations in time for a visit by Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The building would have failed an inspection, prosecutors said.
Pressure began after the Turkish diplomat told Adams’ staffer that because Turkey had supported Adams, it was “his turn” to support Turkey. The staffer relayed this message to Adams, who responded “I know.”
Adams later told the fire commissioner the city should let Turkey occupy the consulate though the country’s officials “know they have some issues.” The commissioner responded: “We will get on it tomorrow,” and through his staffer Adams assured the diplomat: “I am on top of this.”
Soon after the building was deemed safe, Adams allegedly accepted more than $14,000 of additional luxury travel benefits.
* After becoming mayor in 2022, Adams favored “those who provided him with illegal benefits over those who fell short,” the indictment said. This included not making a statement about the 1915 Armenian genocide at an annual remembrance of the massacre, and declining to meet with the Turkish university owner after he failed to arrange $25,000 of promised 2021 campaign donations.
* Adams canceled a planned a November 2023 dinner with the owner of a logistics company from the Turkish-American community in the New York City area who wanted to “contribute significant amounts of money” to his reelection campaign after the federal probe into Adams’ conduct became public.
* After learning he was being investigated, Adams in November 2023 increased the complexity of the password on his personal cellphone, saying it was to prevent staffers from deleting its contents and impeding investigators. He then claimed he had forgotten the new password, and therefore could not help the FBI unlock the phone, prosecutors said.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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