NYC Mayor Adams pleads not guilty to sweeping federal corruption indictment

NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams pleaded not guilty Friday as he was arraigned on an indictment in Manhattan federal court charging him with bribery and wire fraud for allegedly soliciting campaign contributions from overseas donors following a wide-ranging federal probe into corruption at City Hall.

Adams, wearing a crisp blue suit, entered his plea as he stood before federal magistrate judge Katharine Parker.

“I am not guilty, your honor,” Adams said.

Earlier in the day, Adams shot a thumbs up at a gathering crowd as he arrived at federal court with his attorney just before 9 a.m., but made no comment. Adams has said he is innocent of all charges. The mayor has also rebuffed calls for his resignation and had several private meetings scheduled for Friday.

The charges stem from an ongoing investigation by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office that has scrutinized allegations Turkey’s government funneled illegal donations into Adams’ 2021 campaign coffers. The indictment comes after revelations earlier this month that authorities are also looking into communications between Adams and the governments of five other foreign countries.

Adams is the first New York City mayor in the modern era to face criminal charges while in office. His administration has been reeling from additional federal corruption investigations and a series of high-profile resignations in recent weeks by top advisers to the mayor. He is facing the possibility of up to 45 years in prison if convicted of bribery, campaign finance, wire fraud, and conspiracy offenses, federal officials said.

In the five-count indictment, federal investigators described a scheme that spanned “nearly a decade,” starting when Adams became Brooklyn borough president in 2014. The charges he faces are conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and receiving campaign contributions by foreign nationals; wire fraud; two counts of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national, and bribery.

Adams allegedly accepted “improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him,” the 57-page indictment charges.

Federal prosecutors say Adams solicited and accepted tens of thousands of dollars in illegal straw donations from Turkish nationals and, once he became mayor, his “foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him” by securing favors from him.

Since becoming mayor, Adams has kept this favor-swapping relationship going and has continued soliciting illegal straw donations from Turkish nationals for his reelection campaign, according to the indictment. It’s illegal to accept campaign donations from non-U.S. citizens. To get around this, Turkish officials allegedly sent the donations through third parties, known as straw donors, who were citizens.

Adams allegedly accepted the donations, knowing their origins, and maximized his gains through New York City’s matching funds program — netting his 2021 campaign public money that the feds say he should’ve never received due to the illegal nature of the Turkish contributions.

Adams repaid the favors by, among other actions, pressuring the FDNY into fast-tracking the opening of a new 36-floor Turkish Consulate in Manhattan despite serious fire safety concerns, the indictment charges.

Since the indictment was unsealed Thursday, several elected officials and community leaders have demanded that Adams resign from office, but the mayor says he will continue to lead as he fights the charges.

Gov. Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams from office, called the indictment “the latest in a disturbing pattern of events” but did not call for him to step down.

“My focus is on protecting the people of New York and ensuring stability in the city,” she said in a statement late Thursday. “While I review my options and obligations as the governor of New York, I expect the mayor to take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure the people of New York City are being well-served by their leaders.”