NYC Mayor Eric Adams indicted on federal criminal charges
Mayor Eric Adams attends the Africa-America Institute’s 40th Annual Awards Gala on Sept. 24, 2024. Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office
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The indictment against the mayor is expected to be unsealed today.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal charges, The New York Times first reported Wednesday night, prompting further calls for his resignation.
Rumors of a pending federal indictment against Adams and potentially several aides circulated widely within New York City political circles on Wednesday, shortly before the Times first broke the news. The paper’s reporting on the existence of the indictment was quickly matched by the New York Post, but specific details about the indictment, which is still under seal, remain scarce. Sources tell City & State that prosecutors with the Southern District of New York are expected to hold a press conference tomorrow to announce the charges.
According to The City, Adams has been charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent after actions he took following donations he accepted. That follows a report from the Times on Monday saying that federal investigators looking into ties between the mayor’s campaign and Turkey had issued subpoenas for records related to five other countries: Israel, China, Uzbekistan, Qatar and South Korea.
Shortly after the news broke, Adams released a two-and-a-half-minute-long video addressing the reports of the indictment and asserting his innocence. “My fellow New Yorkers, it is now my belief that the federal government intends to charge me with federal crimes,” he said in the prerecorded address. “If so, these charges will be entirely false, based on lies.” He said that he has become a “target” for fighting for New Yorkers, and suggested that federal prosecutors have a vendetta against him. “For months, leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty,” Adams said.
The mayor further refused to heed growing calls for his resignation. “I can also understand how everyday New Yorkers would be concerned that I cannot do my job while I face accusations,” Adams said. “But I have been facing these lies for months, since I began to speak out for all of you and their investigation started—yet the city has continued to improve.”
News of the mayor’s indictment was met with calls from New York Democratic lawmakers across the ideological spectrum to step down. Democrats who have announced primary challenges to Adams—including New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, former city Comptroller Scott Stringer and state Sen. Zellnor Myrie—were also quick to call for Adams’ resignation. Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani, whom City & State previously reported is weighing a bid for Grace Mansion, also said Adams should step aside. Lander made a point of saying that Adams “deserves due process, the presumption of innocence, and his day in court,” but asserted that he could not continue his duties as mayor while defending himself. Stringer and Myrie similarly said that Adams could not focus on delivering for the city while also attempting to prove his innocence. State Sen. Jessica Ramos, another mayoral contender, stopped short of calling on Adams to resign, but said that “if convicted, it would be a grievous abuse of power and a betrayal to voters, tax payers and working families” and that “a new day for our city is long overdue.” Asked whether Adams should step down, Ramos said she is “not interested in dancing on anyone’s grave tonight.”
Ana María Archila and Jasmine Gripper, co-directors of the New York Working Families Party, joined the chorus Wednesday night, saying in a statement that Adams “has lost the trust of the everyday New Yorkers he was elected to serve.” They pointed toward the city charter, which says that the public advocate becomes interim mayor should the mayor resign.
Adams’ indictment follows an extremely tumultuous month for the Adams administration that saw multiple raids on the homes of members of his inner circle as well as high-profile resignations of his police commissioner, his chief counsel, his schools chancellor and his health commissioner. On Sept. 4, federal agents showed up at the homes of First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, Schools Chancellor David Banks, then-Police Commissioner Edward Caban, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks (David’s brother), and senior aide Timothy Pearson, in addition to several other NYPD officials.
Since then, a steady drip of news reports have indicated that the Southern District of New York was probing whether brothers of the police commissioner, the schools chancellor and the deputy mayor for public safety were influence peddling. In the aftermath of the federal raids, Edward Caban stepped down as police commissioner and David Banks announced that he would retire at the end of the year. But just days after the mayor appointed former FBI agent Tom Donlon to replace Caban as police commissioner, Donlon too was raided by federal agents.
Additional reporting from Holly Pretsky. This is a developing story.
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