NYC mayor charged with bribery, fraud

Public figures call for Adams' resignation

By: Dan Morrison
Bart Jansen
and Thao Nguyen
USA Today

..... New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on five federal charges, making him the city's first mayor to be criminally charged while in office.
..... A 57-page indictment, unsealed Thursday, [09/26/2024] charges the leader of the biggest city in the U.S. with bribery, fraud and soliciting foreign campaign donations.
..... Federal agents raided Adams' official residence Thursday [09/26/2024] morning. Nealy a dozen investigators rolled up before dawn at Gracie Mansion, the 220-year-old landmark on Manhattan's Upper East Side, in a black SUV and other vehicles.
..... Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Adams, said investigators seized a phone "in an effort to crate a spectacle," the New York Times reported.
..... The FBI and the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan did not immediately return calls for comment.
..... Adams, a former police captain, was defiant and vowed to resist pressure to resign.
..... "The actions that have unfolded over the last 10 months, there have been leaks, commentary, the demonizing,: he told reporters as the charges were made public.
..... "This did not surprise us that we reached this day. I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before you make any judgments."
..... "My day-to-day will not change," Adams added. "I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do."
..... In a video statement released late Wednesday, [09/25/2024] before the charge were unsealed, Adams said he was innocent and vowed to fight the charges with "every ounce of my strength and my spirit." The indictment was first reported Wednesday [09/25/2024] by The New York Times.
..... The mayor's administration has been under federal scrutiny over the last year [2023] in a separate probe into possible illegal foreign donations from Turkish officials during Adams/ 2021 mayoral campaign.
..... The Times reported on Monday [09/23/2024] that federal prosecutors submitted grand jury subpoenas to City Hall, Adams and his campaign in July [2024] demanding information related to Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan.
..... Investigators are reportedly also probing a possible nightclub protection racket run by elements of the New York Police Department, and city contracts for migrant housing.
..... Shortly before the indictment was announced, Adams appeared at a reception in New York at the Metropolitan Museum of Art attended by President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden.

New York lawmakers call for Adams to step down

..... In response to the indictment, New York leaders and officials called for Adams' resignation. he acknowledged the calls on Wednesday [09/25/2024] but promised to stay in office.
..... "I have been facing these leis for months," Adams said. "Make no mistake: You elected me to lead this city - and lead it i will."
..... Earlier Wednesday, [09/25/2024] before the news of the indictment came out, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, had already called on Adams to step down.
..... "I do not see how mayor Adams can continue governing New York City," Ocasio-Cortez said on X, formerly Twitter. "The flood of resignation and vacancies are threatening movement functions. Nonstop investigation will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration."
..... Jessica Ramos, a New York state senator from Queens, and mayoral candidate for the 2025 election, said the charges "feel like a profound betrayal."
..... "Weeks of FBI raids, indictments, and resignations have shaken our city," Ramos said in a statement.
..... New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, also running for mayor next year, echoed Ramos' sentiment.
..... "Mayor Adams, like all New Yorkers, deserves due process, the presumption of innocence, and his day in court. However, it is clear that defending himself against serious federal charges will require a significant amount of the time and attention needed to govern this great city," Lander said on X. "the most appropriate path forward is for him to step down so that New York City can get the full focus its leadership demands."
..... State Senator Zellnor Myrie said it was a 'sad day" for the city, adding that the news of the indictment is "especially painful for so many Black New Yorkers who put our hope and faith in this Mayor."
..... "We need a leader who is fully focused, without distraction, on the enormous challenges we face - from housing afford ability to public safety," Myrie said in a statement. "A mayor under the weight of a serious indictment can no longer do that - and today [09/26/2024] I am calling on him to resign."
..... According to the city's charter, the "mayor may be removed from office by the governor upon charges." If he were forced out of office, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams would become mayor.

Months of upheaval

..... News of the indictment came amid months of political upheaval and a series of resignations.
..... In November 2023, the FBI seized Adams' mobile phones and computer, and raided the home of his campaign treasurer. In recent weeks, other top city officials have resigned amid multiple federal corruption investigations.
..... Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned on September 12, [2024] a week after investigators from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan seized his cellphones. Caban was among several of the mayor's aides and confidantes who received federal search warrants earlier this month, [09/2024] calculating Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice Philip Banks III, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright and Schools Chancellor David banks.
..... Days after Caban steeped down, Adams' chief legal advisor Lisa Zirnberg resigned, saying she could "no longer effectively serve" in the position. Last week, two former New York City Fire Department chiefs became the latest high-ranking city officials to be named in the series of federal investigations and arrested on charges of bribery and corruptions.

..... Contributing: Eduardo Cuevas, Josey Garrison and Frenando Cervantes Jr., USA Today; David M. Zimmer, Northjersey.com; Asher Stockler, The Journal News; Reuters.

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