(NewsNation) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday morning said he won’t resign despite being indicted on on federal charges that he secured bribes from foreign nationals and took illegal campaign contributions in exchange for favors.
Authorities said this included helping Turkish officials get fire safety approvals for a 36-story Turkish consulate building despite it not passing inspection. The “long-running” corruption goes back nearly a decade, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a Thursday news conference.
The investigation into Adams is continuing, Williams said.
“The conduct alleged in the indictment, the foreign money, the corporate money, the bribery, the years of concealment, is a grave breach of the public’s trust,” Williams said. “We continue to dig and we will hold more people accountable.”
Adams maintained his innocence, both in a statement to NewsNation and at a Thursday news conference of his own where he said he’s not stepping down.
“I always knew that If I stood my ground for New Yorkers, that I would be a target—and a target I became,” the statement said.
To reporters, Adams said his “day-to-day will not change.”
“From here, my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city,” Adams said. “I ask New York to just wait to hear our defense before making any judgments.”
A retired police captain who was elected as New York City’s 110th mayor nearly three years ago, Adams is now the first sitting New York City mayor to face criminal charges.
Eric Adams indicted
News of Adams’ indictment comes weeks after the FBI raided the homes of multiple top Adams aides, City Hall sources confirmed to NewsNation local affiliate WPIX.
Federal investigators had seized Adams’ electronic devices nearly a year ago as part of an investigation focused, at least partly, on campaign contributions and Adams’ interactions with the Turkish government.
Prosecutors said Adams did not disclose free and discounted travel to places including France, China, Turkey, Sri Lanka, India and Hungary and created a paper trail to suggest he had paid it. One staffer was directed by Adams to make sure his activities in Turkey from 2021 were not made public, according to prosecutors. A senior official from Turkey’s diplomatic establishment facilitated straw donations to Adams.
“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 what,” Williams said. “But as we allege year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark.”
In addition, Adams “compounded his gains” from illegal contributions he allegedly obtained by gaming the city’s matching funds program, authorities said in the indictment. Through false certifications, Adams’ campaign got more than $10 million in matching public funds, the indictment said.
Recent resignations
Several top city officials have announced their resignation from the Adams administration in recent weeks.
So far, federal prosecutors have declined to comment on the investigations or provide details about their scope.
Recent resignations include New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks, head of the largest school system in the U.S. He submitted his resignation Tuesday, effective at the end of the calendar year.
Banks’ decision to step down came after federal agents seized his phone and other devices earlier this month, The Associated Press reported.
New York City Health Commissioner Dr. Ashwin Vasan additionally announced he would resign early next year. Vasan was appointed in December 2021 while the omicron variant of COVID-19 was in full swing and was soon after confronted with the city’s first case of polio in a decade. He’s the third high-ranking city official to announce a resignation this month.
Unnamed sources reportedly told NBC New York that Vasan’s announcement is unrelated to the investigation involving several other city officials.
Former New York City Police Department Commissioner Edward Caban and chief legal counsel Liza Zornberg also announced their resignations in recent weeks.
Caban, the city’s former police commissioner, resigned in early September — one week after investigators seized his phone.
Federal officials seized phones from Caban and two New York police lieutenants who worked in the commissioner’s office and on his detail, sources told NewsNation local affiliate WPIX. Officials also took devices from the home of Caban’s twin brother, James Caban — a former police officer who now runs a nightlife consulting business, according to the AP.
Zornberg is a former federal prosecutor in the U.S. attorney’s office who led some of the investigative efforts into the Adams administration and also resigned abruptly around that time. Officials did not seize her phone, the AP reported.
The Associated Press and NewsNation partner The Hill contributed to this report.
