NYC Mayor Eric Adams indicted on criminal corruption charges

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with wire fraud, bribery and receiving illegal donations from foreigners by federal prosecutors.

According to the indictment, Adams received illegal campaign donations from foreign businessmen and a Turkish official.

Adams is also alleged to have accepted perks such as luxury travel in exchange for official favors and manipulated a municipal funding program to "compound his gains."

According to the indictment, because the Turkish official made the "straw donations" appear like they were small payments from New York residents, Adams was then able to claim "more than $10 million in public funds" under a New York scheme that's supposed to provide an extra reward for smaller donations from locals, rather than large sums given by corporations, for example.

In a speech recorded at his official residence, Adams said he would remain in office, describing any charges he may face as "entirely false [and] based on lies."

Adams is the first mayor in New York City history to be indicted while in office.

New York prosecutor says investigation continues

The US attorney's office in Manhattan is pressing the case.

US Attorney Damien Williams said in a press conference later on Thursday that Adams violated public trust by engaging in "long-running" corruption involving bribes from foreign nationals dating back nearly a decade.

"This was a multi-year scheme to buy favor with a single New York City politician on the rise," Williams said.

He added that the investigation continues and more people "will be held accountable."

Adams was meanwhile defiant in his news conference, criticizing federal authorities' handling of the investigation and denying he broke any laws.

"Everyone who knows me knows that I follow campaign rules and I follow the law," he said. When asked if he believed the investigation was politically motivated, he said that people should question the federal officials who orchestrated Thursday's events.

"I will continue to do my job as mayor," he said, where some onlookers called on him to resign.

FBI seizes Adams' phone

FBI agents entered the mayor's official residence, Gracie Mansion, early Thursday morning and confiscated his phone, according to his lawyer Alex Spiro.

Spiro criticized the federal agents' actions, accusing them of trying to "to create a spectacle."

"They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in," he said.

What does the indictment reveal?

The indictment is the result of an extensive investigation into the mayor and his associates to determine whether he conspired with Turkish government officials during his 2021 campaign to receive illegal contributions. 

Four of the five charges are related to the alleged receipt of funds for that campaign, which is prohibited by law, while the other charge is linked to bribery. 

The court document also states that Adams "continued his corrupt relationships after becoming mayor."

What did Eric Adams say?

The mayor vowed to contest the charges.

"I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target and a target I became," Adams said. "I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit."

"If I'm charged, I know I'm innocent. I will request an immediate trial so New Yorkers can hear the truth," he said.

The Adams administration was already reeling from a series of high-level resignations amid at least four federal probes.

Before news of the indictment broke, US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also a Democrat, called on Adams to resign.

"I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City," Ocasio-Cortez, who represents a New York district in Congress, said in on social media.

The charges against Adams come after the FBI searched the Brooklyn home of his chief fundraiser last November, and also in the wake of a slew of resignations by top city officials in recent weeks.

fmf, rt, mfi/msh (AP, Reuters)