NEW YORK — New York City Mayor Eric Adams received more than $100,000 worth of free plane tickets and luxury hotel stays from wealthy Turkish nationals and at least one government official in a nearly decade-long corruption scheme, according to a 57-page federal indictment unsealed Thursday.
In return for free travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions, Adams performed favors for his foreign benefactors, including pressuring the New York Fire Department to allow a Turkish consulate building to open despite serious safety concerns, the indictment says.
The alleged international pay-to-play scheme began after Adams became the Brooklyn borough president in 2014 and helped to underwrite his successful mayoral campaign seven years later, the indictment says. It continued into this year, even after federal officers seized Adams’ electronic devices and raided the home of his chief fundraiser, according to the indictment.
“This was a multiyear scheme to buy favor with a single New York City politician on the rise,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said at a news conference.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams talks to the media outside Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor of New York City, on Thursday, after he was indicted on federal criminal charges. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP – Getty Images)
Charged with five counts, Adams, 64, becomes the first sitting New York City mayor to be indicted in the modern era.
The details of the criminal case come at a time of extraordinary turmoil for the Adams administration. In the past two weeks alone, the city’s police commissioner, top lawyer and schools chancellor have announced their resignations.
Adams, in a defiant address shortly after the indictment was made public, vowed to fight the charges and stay on as mayor.
“We are not surprised. We expected this,” Adams said. “I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments.”
Several prominent politicians have called on the Democrat to resign, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and state Sen. John Liu, D-Queens.
But the most powerful political figures in New York — Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries; and Gov. Kathy Hochul — have not joined the others in calling for Adams to step down.
The mayor could be arraigned as soon as Friday on charges that include bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national.
“The indictment of a sitting mayor is not just another headline,” said James Dennehy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office. “It is a stinging reminder that no one is above the law or beyond reproach, and it serves as a sobering moment for all of us who place our trust in elected officials.”
The indictment centers on Adams’ relationship with a handful of well-connected Turkish nationals: a senior diplomatic official, a promoter, a university chairman, an airline manager and a luxury hotel owner.
They provided Adams with free travel and entertainment benefits as well as illegal campaign cash, according to federal prosecutors.
As he was locked in the 2021 mayor’s race, Adams and his staff worked to disguise the foreign money by funneling it through U.S. citizens, the indictment says. His campaign received more than $10 million in matching public funds as a result of the false certifications, according to the indictment.
From 2016 to 2021, he received free business class tickets or upgrades on seven different trips to countries including India, France, China, Hungary, Ghana and Turkey — a value of over $123,000, the indictment says.
Ahead of one trip to Istanbul, an Adams staffer requested that the Turkish airline manager charge him a “real” price in order to conceal the travel gift, the indictment says.
By JONATHAN DIENST, TOM WINTER and RICH SCHAPIRO/NBC News