New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted following a federal corruption investigation. He is now the first mayor in New York’s history to be charged while in office.
The indictment, which is still sealed, accuses Adams of criminal conduct connected to contributions to the Democrat’s 2021 mayoral race. Additional conduct dating back to 2015, with at least one count, including a contribution by a foreign national, is also included.
Adams is expected to appear in court today, September 26, when the indictment will be unsealed, and the nature of the charges revealed. In a statement to the New York Post, Adams maintained his innocence and said he would fight to prove it.
A defiant Eric Adams responded in a taped message after he became the first sitting mayor in New York City history to be indicted while in office. pic.twitter.com/xNlCYQkZmB
— New York Post (@nypost) September 26, 2024
According to a CNBC source, the indictment includes up to $20 million in donations to Erics’ campaign. This is a consequence of a matching fund program offered by the city’s Campaign Finance Program to candidates in exchange for small-dollar donations from New York City citizens. This initiative provides candidates with up to eight times the amount of a small-dollar donation from an individual.
Adams indicted on federal charges
According to a source, Adams, 64, traveled to Turkey to receive illegal contributions. The mayor is the first official in his administration to face charges as a result of multiple ongoing investigations involving the New York Police Department and the city’s top school official.
Donlon, a former top FBI counterterrorism official in New York, revealed this week that the investigators “took materials that came into my possession approximately 20 years ago and are unrelated to my work with the New York City Police Department.”
Despite calls from other senior US lawmakers, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Adams has stated that he will not resign as Mayor if prosecuted. Adam says, “I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became.”
On Monday, The New York Times reported that prosecutors had issued grand jury subpoenas to City Hall, Adams, and his campaign in July, seeking information concerning five other countries: Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan.
If Adams resigns before his first term in office ends, he will be replaced by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams as acting mayor.
Adams has long supported crypto and Bitcoin, accepting his first three paychecks in BTC and Ether. When elected mayor in 2021, he promised to make New York the “center of the cryptocurrency industry.”
The allegations stem from a November 2023 FBI investigation in which agents raided the house of Adam’s primary fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. The FBI searched Adam’s personal electronic devices for possible illegal donations from the Turkish government in 2021.
Eric maintained his pro-crypto stance in the aftermath of FTX’s collapse in November 2022, which ushered in the worst crypto winter in history.
During Adams’ term in office, the New York state government passed a bill putting a two-year moratorium on proof-of-work mining using non-renewable energy sources, which he spoke out against before its passage.