NYC Mayor Eric Adams indicted on charges that he accepted bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources.
On Thursday the US Attorneys in the Southern District of New York unveiled a five-count indictment against Adams, accusing him of “compounding his gains” from the illegal contributions by gaming the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small dollar donations, the Associated Press reported.
His campaign received more than $10,000 in matching funds as a result of the false certifications, according to the indictment. Adams allegedly “solicited and demanded” bribes, including free and heavily discounted luxury travel benefits from a Turkish official, the indictment alleges, noting that the official was seeking Adams’ help pertaining to regulations of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan
Adams now the first mayor in New York City history to be indicted while in office (
Getty Images)
FBI agents entered the mayor’s official residence and seized his phone early Thursday, hours before the indictment was made public.
“Federal agents appeared this morning at Gracie Mansion in an effort to create a spectacle (again) and take Mayor Adams phone (again),” Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, said in a statement hours before the indictment was made public. “They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in.”
Adams is now the first mayor in New York City history to be indicted while in office. The indictment caps off a tumultuous few weeks for the mayor. Adams and several members of his administration have been the target of multiple federal investigations, some which have led to high-profile resignations.
Prosecutors are set to speak on the charges at a press conference shortly before noon. Adams is holding strong, saying he wont resign. In a speech recorded at his official residence Wednesday Adams called any charges he may face as “entirely false, based on lies.”
“I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit,” he said.
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