NYC Mayor Eric Adams Charged With Taking Bribes, Illegal Campaign Funds From Foreign Sources

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted Thursday on federal charges alleging that he secured bribes from foreign nationals and illegal campaign contributions in exchange for favors that included helping Turkish officials get fire safety approvals for a new diplomatic building in the city.

Adams, a former captain in the New York City police department, faces conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment that describes a decade-long trail of crimes.

At a news conference announcing the charges, Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for Manhattan, said Adams had a duty to disclose gifts he received, but year after year “kept the public in the dark.”

At a separate news conference outside Gracie Mansion, meanwhile, Adams said he doesn’t plan to resign from his job running the country’s largest city, telling reporters he hopes New Yorkers will wait to hear his legal team’s defense before making any judgments.

“From here, my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city,” he said at a hastily assembled news conference outside Gracie Mansion after the charges were made public. “It’s an unfortunate day. And its a painful day. But inside all of that is a day when we will finally reveal why, for 10 months, I’ve gone through this. And I look forward to defending myself,” he said.

As Adams and others close to him addressed the media, protesters heckled them, with some chanting “abuse of power” as police circled them and one shouting, “He’s a corrupt mayor. He deserves to be in handcuffs.”

Federal prosecutors allege in the indictment that Adams “not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions” to his mayoral campaign. A senior official in the Turkish diplomatic