NYC Mayor Adams charged in illegal foreign $$ scheme

On Thursday morning the Justice Department unsealed an indictment of sitting New York City mayor Eric Adams, alleging illicit ties to the government of Turkey and Turkish companies. The five count indictment includes allegations of wire fraud, bribery, and receiving illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals.

The 57-page indictment alleges that, “for nearly a decade, Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign business people and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him.”

The indictment alleges that the value of the travel benefits Adams personally received exceeds $123,000. More egregiously, his mayoral campaign allegedly received tens of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals, and by concealing the true-source of these funds defrauded New York City of more than $10,000,000 in matching public campaign funds. As a Turkish entrepreneur explained to an Adams’ staffer, "I'll send it (campaign contribution) to an American...he will make a donation to you."

When Adams was elected Mayor of New York City, his Turkish handlers allegedly got right to work cashing in on their support of Adams. The indictment alleges that a Turkish businessman who helped to facilitate the scheme said, “I'm going to go and talk to our elders in Ankara about how we can turn this into an advantage for our country's lobby.” A Turkish official, in a conversation with an Adams’ staffer was even more blunt, according to the indictment, “the Turkish Official stated that because Turkey had supported ADAMS, it was now 'his turn' to support Turkey. The Adams Staffer relayed this message to Adams, and Adams responded, 'I know.'"

Amongst other things Adams allegedly did to return the favors to Turkey was, “pressuring the New York City Fire Department (“FDNY”) to facilitate the opening of a new Turkish consular building — a 36-story skyscraper — without a fire inspection. According to the indictment, the city official responsible for overseeing the skyscraper’s safety, who warned that the building had over 60 defects and “is not safe to occupy,” was told he would lose his job if he didn’t clear the building to be opened. The official acquiesced and the skyscraper opened, just in time for a high-profile visit by Turkey's president.

Before Adams was formally charged he released a video statement Wednesday night from the Governor’s mansion vehemently denying the charges. "It is now my belief that the federal government intends to charge me with crimes. If so, these charges would be entirely false, based on lies…I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength, and my spirit," Adams proclaimed in the video. Adams continued his defiance in a public statement after the indictment was unsealed.

Adams becomes the first mayor in New York City history to be charged with a crime while in office. And, it’s possible that Adams may face further charges, as news broke Monday that he is also under federal investigation for allegedly illicit ties to five other foreign countries: China, Israel, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan.

Adams is just one of many public officials to face federal criminal charges related to foreign entanglements this year. In July, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) became the first U.S. senator to be convicted of acting as an unregistered foreign agent for Egypt and Qatar in exchange for bribes, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and even gold bars.

In May, Representative Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) was indicted for allegedly accepting at least $360,000 in bribes from companies connected to the government of Azerbaijan, in exchange for agreeing, “to influence a series of legislative measures relating to Azerbaijan’s conflict with neighboring Armenia,” according to the indictment.

Earlier this month, Linda Sun, who previously worked for two New York Governors, was indicted for violating the Foreign Agents Registration Act and several other charges. According to a U.S. attorney, while Sun appeared to work for the people of New York, she and her husband, “actually worked to further the interests of the Chinese government and the CCP. The illicit scheme enriched the defendant’s family to the tune of millions of dollars.”