Eric Adams has been indicted on federal charges out of the Southern District of New York, making him the first sitting mayor of New York City to face criminal prosecution.
Adams has denied any wrongdoing on his part and any knowledge of wrongdoing regarding a series of probes surrounding his administration. He says the charges are based on lies and that he won’t resign.
So what is he accused of?
Adams, a former police officer, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment that describes a decade-long trail of crimes.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan alleges in the indictment that Adams “compounded his gains” from the illegal contributions by gaming the city’s matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small dollar donations. His campaign received more than $10,000,000 in matching funds as a result of the false certifications, according to the indictment.
In 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.
Here’s a round-up of some of the most surprising revelations in the 57-page indictment:
Pg. 2: Adams campaign uses straw donors to gain $10 million in public funds
The straw donor scheme by the Adams campaign abused a City program that matches small-dollar contributions with public funds, federal prosecutors allege.
His campaign applied for matching funds based on “known straw donations” which earned the campaign as much as $2,000 in public matching funds for each illegal contribution, the feds claim.
The indictment alleges Adams and his campaign certified compliance with the city’s campaign finance regulations while knowingly engaging in the acceptance of straw donations.
The result? His 2021 campaign received more than $10,000,000 in public funds, as alleged in the indictment.
Here’s what the indictment says:
“ERIC ADAMS, the defendant, compounded his gains from the straw contributions by using them to defraud New York City and steal public funds. New York City has a matching funds program that matches small-dollar contributions from individual City residents with up to eight times their amount in public funds, to give New Yorkers a greater voice in elections. ADAMS’s campaigns applied for matching funds based on known straw donations, fraudulently obtaining as much as $2,000 in public funds for each illegal contribution. ADAMS and those working at his direction falsely certified compliance with applicable campaign finance regulations despite ADAMS’ s repeated acceptance of straw donations, relying on the concealed nature of these illegal contributions to falsely portray his campaigns as law-abiding. As a result of those false certifications, ADAMS’s 2021 mayoral campaign received more than $10,000,000 in public funds.”
Pg. 15: Adams’ wouldn’t accept a $100K illegal donation, right?
Back in June of 2018, federal prosecutors allege a staffer for Adams and a potential campaign donor discuss possible payment up to $100,000, which would be funneled through an American citizen.
“I’ll give cash to him in Turkey … Or I’ll send it to an American … He will make a donation to you,” the staffer was told over text message, the indictment lays out.
The staffer, apparently, was skeptical that Adams would accept such a donation, saying “I think he wouldn’t get involved in such games.”
That was not the case, according to prosecutors.
The staffer took the conversation to Adams, they allege, who asked his boss whether they should pursue the foreign contributions, to which Adams directed the staffer to chase after, according to the feds.
Pg. 28: What’s a fair price for Turkish airline business class tickets? $50?
In June of 2021, a staffer was coordinating travel for Adams through a Turkish airliner. The official was going back and forth with an airline representative to find a responsible price that Adams should pay for the flight, the indictment outlines.
The staffer appears to want to make some kind of payment on behalf of Adams, but the airline representative warns about the pricey last minute cost.
- Airline Manager: I am going to charge $50
- Adams Staffer: No
- Airline Manager: That would work wouldn’t it
- Adams Staffer: No, dear. $50? What? Quote a proper price.
- Airline Manager: How much should I charge? 🙂
- Adams Staffer: His every step is being watched right now. $1,000 or so. Let it be somewhat real. We don’t want them to say he is flying for free. At the moment, the media’s attention is on Eric.
According to the indictment, Adams ended up paying $2,200 for two roundtrip economy tickets. Each ticket was then upgraded by the airline to business class at no cost, prosecutors claim, which would have cost more than $15,000 in total.
Pg. 29: Free accommodations in Turkey
Adams allegedly accepted bribes from a Turkish official, often in the form or free or heavily discounted luxury travel benefits.
In one exchange between an Adams staffer and a travel coordinator, the two discuss accommodations for the mayor and his partner while in Turkey:
- Adams Staffer: He is also asking where else they can do in Turkey. Do you have a recommendation?
- Airline Manager: Four Seasons
- Adams Staffer: It’s too expensive
- Airline Manager: Why does he care? He is not going to pay. His name will not be on anything either
- Adam Staffer: Super
Pg. 48: Deleting messages in the bathroom
Prosecutors say an Adams staffer voluntarily spoke with FBI agents, but during a meeting, lied about her and Adams’ criminal conduct.
“At one point during her voluntary interview, the Adams Staffer excused herself to a bathroom and, while there, deleted the encrypted messaging applications she had used to communicate with ADAMS, the Promoter, the Turkish Official, the Airline Manager, and others,” the indictment reads.
Pg. 48: Who has the password to Adams’ phone?
Last fall, FBI agents executed a search warrant for electronic devices in Adams’ possession. On Nov. 6, 2023, they sought to obtain the mayor’s personal phone, which he used to allegedly communicate about the charges outlined Thursday, but Adams was unable to produce that phone until the next day.
The phone that Adams turned over to the feds was locked behind a password, they explain in the indictment, which the mayor claimed had been changed to stop anyone on his staff from deleting any information from it.
During the process of increasing his phone security by adjusting his four-digit password to six digits, Adams later claimed to have forgotten the new password he’d just created and “was unable to provide the FBI with a password that would unlock the phone.”
