Eric Adams charged with wire fraud, bribery among other counts
The US district court for the southern district of New York has announced the federal indictment against Eric Adams.
Adams has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals, wire fraud, solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national, as well as bribery.
In the 57-page indictment, prosecutors said:
Eric Adams, the defendant, sought and accepted illegal campaign contributions in the form of ‘nominee’ or ‘straw’ contributions, meaning that the true contributors conveyed their money through nominal donors, who falsely certified they were contributing their own money.
By smuggling their contributions to Adams through US-based straw donors, Adams’ overseas contributors defeated federal laws that serve to prevent foreign influence on US elections.
Key events
“In exchange for some of those improper benefits, [Eric Adams] intervened in the New York City fire department’s inspection process for a building owned and operated by the Turkish government, allowing it to open even though it had not passed the fire inspection,” said Damian Williams.
He added:
“The corruption alleged in the indictment is, as I said, long running, as we allege in the indictment, Adams’ solicitation of illegal campaign contributions began in 2018 after he started raising funds for his 2021 mayoral campaign, he agreed to take contributions offered by multiple Turkish businessmen, several of whom he met in Turkey.
Adams knew that these wealthy individuals could not legally donate in a US election. Federal law clearly prohibits foreign donations. That’s how we protect our elections from foreign influence.
Adams directed his staff to pursue this illegal money to support his campaign for mayor, and as we allege, Adams continued to pursue foreign money in secret well into 2021 and it didn’t stop with his first campaign for mayor. As we allege, in 2023, the mayor rekindled these corrupt relationships, seeking more illegal campaign contributions from some of the same foreign sources to support his reelection campaign.”
SDNY attorney general: ‘Year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark’
Southern District Court of New York attorney Damian Williams is now speaking.
“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 businessman to buy influence with him …
The mayor had a duty to disclose these gifts on his annual public disclosure forms so that the public could see who was giving him. But as we allege, year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark.
He told the public he received no gifts, even though he was secretly being showered with them. We allege that Adams accepted these benefits knowing that they were given to him because of his position.”
“My legal team is going to peruse the entire indictment,” said Eric Adams in a public address following the unsealing of the federal indictment against him.
“Based on what I read, it’s clear that if it’s campaign violations, I know I don’t violate the campaigns, right? If it’s foreign donors, I know I don’t take money from foreign donors.
I verbalized that to the team, both in writing and both in communication, and we will continue to do that, and we look forward to the legal team to handle this as I handle the city of New York and continue the success that we witnessed in the last two years and nine months … in New York.”
Eric Adams asked by Turkish official to not make statements about Armenian genocide – indictment
Eric Adams’s alleged misconduct continued even after he was sworn into office, according to the indictment, which alleges that a Turkish official “repeatedly” asked Adams not to make any statements about the Armenian genocide during Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in 2022.
The indictment states:
On April 21, 2022, the Turkish official messaged the Adams staffer, noting that Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was approaching, and repeatedly asked the Adams staffer for assurances that Adams would not make any statement about the Armenian genocide.
The Adams staffer confirmed that Adams would not make a statement about the Armenian genocide. Adams did not make such a statement.
List of New York mayor’s undisclosed trips, according to indictment
Here are some of the luxury trips Eric Adams took in recent years that were not disclosed in annual disclosure forms, according to the indictment:
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2016: A $12,000+ value round trip between New York and India via Turkey that included a free upgrade to business class for two.
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2017: A $41,000+ value trip involving free business class tickets for three on roundtrips from New York to France, Turkey and China, as well as a “heavily discounted” stay in the Bentley suite of St Regis Istanbul.
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2017: A $16,000+ value trip involving free business class tickets for two on roundtrips between New York and China via Turkey.
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2018: A $12,000+ value trip involving free upgrade to business class for two on roundtrips between New York and Hungary via Turkey.
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2019: A $9,000+ trip involving a free upgrade to business class for one flight from New York to Turkey, free stay at the Cosmopolitan suite of St Regis Istanbul, free meals, transportation and entertainment in Istanbul.
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2021: A $21,000+ value trip involving a free upgrade to business class for two on a roundtrip from New York to Turkey, free or “steeply discounted” luxury hotel and resort stays, transportation, entertainment and meals.
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2021: A $12,000+ value trip between New York and Ghana via Turkey that included a free upgrade to business class for two, free meal and transportation during an Istanbul layover.
US district court in New York to hold press conference at 11:30am ET on ‘significant public corruption charges’
The US district court for the southern district of New York is set to hold a press conference at 11.30am ET on “significant public corruption charges”.
The press conference, which will be lead by SDNY attorney general Damian Williams, will follow the unveiling of a 57-page federal indictment against Eric Adams that includes counts of wire fraud, bribery and acceptance of illegal campaign contributions.
Adams has remained defiant and vowed to not resign, saying that he is innocent and “lead I will”.
Here is more from the federal indictment against Eric Adams:
In 2014, Eric Adams, the defendant, became Brooklyn borough president. Thereafter, for nearly a decade, Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish govermnent official seeking to gain influence over him.
By 2018, Adams – who had by then made known his plans to run for mayor of New York City – not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, as well as other things of value, from foreign nationals.
As Adams’s prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their c01rnpt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City’s mayor. Adams agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received.
After his inauguration as Mayor of New York City, Adams soon began preparing for his next election, including by planning to solicit more illegal contributions and granting requests from those who supported his 2021 mayoral campaign with such donations.
Eric Adams charged with wire fraud, bribery among other counts
The US district court for the southern district of New York has announced the federal indictment against Eric Adams.
Adams has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals, wire fraud, solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national, as well as bribery.
In the 57-page indictment, prosecutors said:
Eric Adams, the defendant, sought and accepted illegal campaign contributions in the form of ‘nominee’ or ‘straw’ contributions, meaning that the true contributors conveyed their money through nominal donors, who falsely certified they were contributing their own money.
By smuggling their contributions to Adams through US-based straw donors, Adams’ overseas contributors defeated federal laws that serve to prevent foreign influence on US elections.
The US district court of the southern district of New York has issued a press guidance for its 11.30am press conference, according to reports.
The guidance said the presser concerns “significant public corruption charges,” according to New York Daily News’s Molly Crane-Newman.
SDNY has sent out guidance for an 11:30 AM presser concerning “significant public corruption charges.” US Attorney Damian Williams will not take questions. I’m in line. pic.twitter.com/T1L09eJuin
— Molly Crane-Newman (@molcranenewman) September 26, 2024
Federal prosecutors are set to announce charges against Eric Adams at 11.30am ET, according to reports.
The expected announcement comes after the mayor’s Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side was raided overnight with federal agents taking away his phone, among other possessions.
Here are some images coming through the news wires of the overnight raid on Eric Adams’s Gracie Mansion in New York City:
Here is video of Eric Adams’s defiant message to New Yorkers last night following reports of a federal indictment against him:
In the two-minute video, Adams refused to resign, saying:
Now, if I am charged, many may say I should resign because I cannot manage the city while fighting the case. I can also understand how everyday New Yorkers would be concerned that I cannot do my job while I face accusations.
But I have been facing these lies for months, since I began to speak out for all of you and their investigation started – yet the city has continued to improve.
Make no mistake: you elected me to lead this city – and lead it I will.”
In response to a question on his thoughts regarding Eric Adams’s reported indictment, Senate majority leader and longtime New Yorker Chuck Schumer said:
I’m talking to my doctor,” NBC’s Frank Thorp V reports.
Approached Leader Schumer, asked if he had any reaction to the indictment of Eric Adams, he pulled out his phone, put it to his ear and said, “I’m talking to my doctor.”
— Frank Thorp V (@frankthorp) September 26, 2024
In a show of solidarity with the mayor, the Brooklyn’s Democratic party’s chair, Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, has released the following statement in response to Eric Adams’s reported indictment:
Our laws mandate due process. An indictment is not a conviction. Every American, every New Yorker, is innocent unless proven otherwise …
Eric Adams has dedicated his life to this city … Fairness demands simply that Mayor Adams is given what each of us would want: a presumption of innocence.
A reported prisoner transport vehicle left Gracie Mansion a short while ago, according to Fox5’s Robert Moses.
New York City mayor’s residence raided in early morning after reports of federal indictment
Good morning,
Federal agents raided New York City mayor Eric Adams’s Gracie Mansion residence on the Upper East Side in the early hours of Thursday after reports emerged of the mayor being hit with a federal indictment.
The raid included a group of nearly a dozen men and women in suits entering the property, with several carrying briefcases, backpacks or duffel bags, the New York Times reports.
In a statement following the raid, a lawyer for Adams said: “Federal agents appeared this morning at Gracie Mansion in an effort to create a spectacle (again) and take Mayor Adams phone (again) … He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court. They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in.”
Although the indictment remains sealed, reports are emerging that it includes allegations of foreign influence and corruption, particularly possible illegal campaign donations from the Turkish government.
Adams has maintained his innocence, saying in a video address late on Wednesday night: “If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
Here are other developments in US politics:
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Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to meet at the White House today as Biden announced more than $8m in new military aid to Ukraine.
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Donald Trump and state prosecutors will make an appearance in a New York appeals court today over his $454m civil fraud judgement.
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The Senate has voted unanimously to hold the CEO of Steward Health Care, the bankrupt hospital chain, in criminal contempt for failing to comply with a congressional subpoena.
