New York City Mayor Eric Adams Just Got Indicted on Federal Charges

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal criminal charges by a grand jury, sources familiar with the matter told The New York Times.

Minutes after the Times’ report was published late Wednesday, other insiders confirmed the indictment to the New York Post, which added that Adams is expected to surrender to law enforcement early next week.

It was not immediately clear what charge or charges Adams will face, with his indictment expected to be unsealed Thursday. He is the first mayor to be criminally charged in the city’s history while still in office.

Both the Times and the Post reported that the indictment stems from an investigation into Adams’ relationship with Turkey, including accusations that its government illegally funneled foreign money into his 2021 mayoral campaign. He is also facing at least three other federal probes.

Sources familiar with the matter told THE CITY that Adams was being charged with acting as an unregistered foreign agent for taking actions in his official capacity after receiving donations from foreign sources.

The indictment marks the zenith of a particularly chaotic season for Adams, with his administration being thrown into disarray in recent weeks as investigators executed a series of raids on two of his deputy mayors and the then-NYPD commissioner.

In the last fortnight alone, the mayor’s chief counsel, health commissioner, NYPD commissioner, and schools chancellor have all resigned.

In a statement to CBS New York on Wednesday night, Adams dug his heels in, insisting on his innocence.

“I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target—and a target I became,” he said. “If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”

In a separate, pre-taped video statement released shortly after, Adams said that he would not resign.

“It is now my belief that the federal government intends to charge me with federal crimes,” he said, standing in front of an American flag. “If so, these charges will be entirely false, based on lies.”

Adams went on to suggest that federal prosecutors were exercising a vendetta against him. “For months, leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty,” he said.

If charged, he added, “many may say I should resign because I cannot manage the city while fighting the case.” He suggested he would resist those calls, arguing that “the city has continued to improve” in the months since investigators began looking into him.

“Make no mistake: You elected me to lead this city—and lead it I will.”

Should Adams eventually resign, Jumaane Williams, New York City’s Democratic public advocate and a vocal Adams critic, would become acting mayor.

Earlier on Wednesday night, Adams had attended a glitzy reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, rubbing elbows with President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden—neither of whom mentioned him in their remarks.

Instead, Biden gave a shout-out to Adams’ predecessor, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who was also in attendance.

“We owe a special thanks tonight to Mayor Bloomberg,” the president said, according to the White House press pool report. “He’s not the mayor right now but he’s still the mayor,” he continued.

Adams’ troubles spilled out into the public eye for the first time last November, when federal agents raided the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, his chief fundraiser, and confiscated documents and several devices. A few days later, FBI agents seized the mayor’s phones and iPads.

Another investigation led the FBI to search the homes of Adams’ Asian affairs adviser, another prominent fundraiser for him, in February. Federal prosecutors issued a round of subpoenas to the mayor and several top aides five months later.

It was only this month, though, that investigators began to show signs that they were closing in on Adams. Federal agents moved to seize the devices of top city officials and their relatives on Sept. 4.

The mayor’s chief counsel, one of his fiercest defenders, stepped down a little over a week later, saying she had “concluded that I can no longer effectively serve in my position.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) became the most prominent elected official to call for Adams to step down, joining a chorus of state lawmakers, city officials, and political rivals vying for the Democratic mayoral primary nomination next summer.

“The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening government function,” she said. “Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration. “For the good of the city, he should resign.”

Adams was quick to rebuff her call in a statement that sniped at Ocasio-Cortez’s support for bail reform.

“For anyone who self-righteously claims people charged with serious crimes should not be in jail to now say that the second Black mayor of New York should resign because of rumors and innuendo—without even a single charge being filed—is the height of hypocrisy,” he said.

“I am leading this city to protect it from exactly that kind of phony politics. The people of this city elected me to fight for them, and I will stay and fight no matter what.”

The New York City mayoral primary will be held in June 2025, with the general election taking place in November.