What is Mayor Eric Adams charged with? Read the indictment
Adams is accused of conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery among other charges
NEW YORK (WABC) -- New York City Mayor Eric Adams is charged with conspiracy, wire fraud and bribery charges in a five-count indictment that describes a decade-long trail of crimes.
The 57-page indictment unsealed Thursday lays out in meticulous detail each instance of Adams allegedly breaking the law.
Adams is expected to be arraigned on the indictment before a federal magistrate at noon Friday, according to the court.
MORE | Read the full indictment:
A defiant Adams, flanked by supporters outside Gracie Mansion after the indictment was unsealed, insisted that he did nothing wrong.
"Everyone that knows me knows I follow campaign rules, and I follow the law. That is how I live my life," he said.
The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan alleges in the indictment that Adams "not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions" to his mayoral campaign. A senior official in the Turkish diplomatic establishment "facilitated many straw donations" to Adams and arranged for Adams and his companions to receive free or discounted travel on Turkey's national airline to destinations including France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkey, the indictment alleges.
Prosecutors allege that Adams accepted free trips and business class airline upgrades valued at more than $100,000.
"Mayor Adams took these contributions knowing they were illegal and aimed at buying influence," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated. According to the indictment, the mayor received first-class flights and stays in opulent hotels while failing to disclose the gifts, as required by law. "Year after year, he kept the public in the dark, claiming he received no gifts," Williams added.
Adams "compounded his gains" from the illegal campaign contributions by gaming the city's matching funds program, which provides a generous match for small dollar donations, some of which helped him qualify for more than $10 million in matching public campaign funds.
RELATED | What is an 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 created and instructed others to create fake paper trails in order to falsely suggest he had paid for travel benefits that were actually free, prosecutors allege. He also deleted messages with others involved in his misconduct, at one point assuring a co-conspirator that he "always" deleted her text messages, according to the indictment.
The mayor is also accused of intervening in New York City Fire Department procedures to benefit foreign interests. In one instance, Adams allegedly pressured fire inspectors to approve the opening of a Turkish consulate building despite safety concerns, all in exchange for personal favors.
When the Turkish government asked for help in getting fire alarms approved for its Turkevi Center on the East Side, "It was his turn to repay the Turkish Official" and "Adams did as instructed," the indictment said.
The fire official in charge of assessing the tower's safety "was told that he would lose his job if he failed to acquiesce, and, after Adams intervened, the skyscraper opened as requested by the Turkish Official."
After federal agents seized Adams' personal cellphone last November, Adams claimed that he had recently changed the phone's password and could not remember the new one.
WATCH | Mayor Adams holds news conference after indictment unsealed:
Speaking to reporters, Adams' defense attorney Alex Spiro suggested federal authorities waved off the mayor's immediate surrender. He also accused them of leaking word of Adams' indictment to the news media.
"We've known for some time that they intended to bring a case against the mayor one way or another," Spiro said, standing with Adams outside the mayor's official residence.
Spiro said that after having had a chance to read the indictment, "you could almost picture them trying to cobble this together and try to tell a story so that they could say, 'corruption, corruption' at a press conference."
He criticized the indictment as a jumble of accusations and innuendo he said was "meant to mislead" the public about Adams. He argued that the conduct described in the charges either wasn't illegal or didn't involve the mayor.
The Turkish consulate was asking for "a courtesy," not payback, when it wanted Adams' help in skipping a fire inspection, Spiro said, adding: "New Yorkers do this all the time." Adams said he'd see what he could do and, a few days later, ignored a follow up phone call from the consulate, Spiro asserted.
"There is no corruption. This is not a real case," Spiro said.
(ABC News and the Associated Press contributed to this report.)
----------
* Get Eyewitness News Delivered
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
