NYC Mayor Eric Adams indicted on criminal charges – DW – 09/26/2024

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on multiple criminal charges in a federal court in Manhattan. Prosecutors in New York said they would give further details on “significant public corruption charges” at a news conference later on Thursday.

Media outlets say Adams, a Democrat, could appear in court as soon as Thursday.

In a speech recorded at his official residence, Adams, said he would remain in office, describing any charges he may face as “entirely false, based on lies.”

Adams is the first major in New York City history to be indicted while in office.

The FBI seized Adams’ phone

FBI agents entered the mayor’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, early Thursday morning and confiscated his phone, according to his lawyer, Alex Spiro.

Spiro criticized the federal agents’ actions, accusing them of trying to “to create a spectacle.”

“They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in,” he said.

Indictment details to be unveiled on Thursday

The US attorney’s office in Manhattan is planning to discuss the case at a press conference on Thursday.

Although the specific charges remain confidential, US media reports suggest that the investigation could be focused on Adams’ interactions with foreign governments, particularly Turkey, and the possible acceptance of illegal campaign donations.

Authorities have also looked into Adams’ ties with Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan, according to US media.

Since the charges remain sealed, it is still unclear if they are related to these same matters.

What did Eric Adams say?

“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target and a target I became,” Adams said. “I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit.”

“If I’m charged, I know I’m innocent. I will request an immediate trial so New Yorkers can hear the truth,” Adams said.

The Adams administration was already reeling from a series of high-level resignations amid at least four federal probes.

Before news of the indictment broke, US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also a Democrat, called on Adams to resign.

“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez, a New York congresswoman who represents parts of the city, said in a post on X.

The charges against Adams come after the FBI last November searched the Brooklyn home of his chief fundraiser and in the wake of a slew of resignations by top city officials in recent weeks.

mfi/rm (AP, Reuters)