New York City Mayor Eric Adams stepped in He entered a Manhattan courtroom and into the history books on Friday when he was arraigned on federal corruption and bribery charges that could have removed him from office.
“I am not guilty, your honor,” Adams told federal Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker during a brief hearing in Manhattan.
Adams, dressed in a dark suit with a white shirt and red tie, was told not to speak to any of the witnesses named in the indictment.
“He shall not contact any individual witnesses or other persons listed by the government in connection with the facts or circumstances alleged in the indictment,” Parker said.
Adams was allowed to leave without posting bail. His next court hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
“We’re going to file a motion to dismiss on Wednesday,” Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, told the judge.
After the case was over, Adams avoided eye contact as he left the courtroom, giving a thumbs-up to a small waiting crowd chanting “lock him up” as he exited.
Meanwhile, Spiro slammed prosecutors, calling the federal case against Adams “shaky” and based on the testimony of an employee who “lied.” He did not release the employee’s name.
“This case isn’t even a real case,” Spiro said. “This is a case of airline upgrade corruption.”
Adams surrendered to federal authorities a day later He was hit with a 57-page federal indictment accused him of buying $100,000 worth of free plane tickets and luxury hotels from wealthy Turkish citizens and at least one government official in a nearly decade-long corruption scheme.
Adams, 64, a former New York City police captain, is charged with five felony counts, including bribery, conspiracy to commit wire fraud and solicitation of a contribution from a foreign national.
Adams is the first New York mayor to be indicted on criminal charges in modern times.
Friday’s official mayoral schedule released by City Hall shows Adams’ new reality with an unexplained seven-hour gap between an 8:30 a.m. meeting with New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks and his staff and a 3:30 p.m. meeting. reflected. with the mayor’s advisory committee.
After arriving at the courthouse in Manhattan, Adams gave onlookers a thumbs up, but did not make a statement as he was escorted inside.
Always defiant, Adams has vowed to fight the charges and stay on as mayor, even as more and more politicians call for his resignation.
“We are not surprised. We expected it,” Adams said Thursday after being charged. “I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any decisions.”
The indictment alleges that the international pay-to-play scheme that ensnared Adams began after he became Brooklyn borough president in 2014 and helped underpin his successful mayoral campaign seven years later.
In exchange for free travel privileges and illegal campaign contributions, Adams did favors to foreign benefactors, including pressuring the New York Fire Department to allow the Turkish consulate to open, the indictment alleges.
The scheme continued this year even after federal officials seized Adams’ electronic devices and raided the home of his chief fundraiser, the indictment said.
“This was a multi-year scheme to obtain favors for a single rising New York City politician,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Thursday.
Adams’ indictment capped two weeks of turmoil in his administration during a period in which Banks city police commissioner and the city’s general counsel announced their resignations.
Several prominent politicians have called on the Democrat to resign, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y.; state Sen. John Liu, D-Queens; and DN.Y., dean of the delegation of the House of Representatives.
But until now, the most powerful political figures of New York — Senator Chuck Schumer, who is the leader of the majority in the Senate; House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries; and Gov. Kathy Hochul — have not joined the chorus calling for Adams to go.
Hochul, who has the authority to fire the mayor, released a lengthy statement late Thursday, saying he expected Adams to “take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate way forward.” But he stopped short of calling on Adams to resign.
Federal prosecutors said Adams’ indictment alleges his ties to several well-connected Turkish nationals who provided the mayor with free travel and entertainment privileges, as well as illegal campaign cash.
The indictment alleges that in 2021, Adams and his employees tried to hide foreign money through US citizens. His campaign received more than $10 million in government funds as a result of fraudulent certificates.
From 2016 to 2021, Adams received free business class tickets or upgrades on seven trips to India, France, China, Hungary, Ghana and Turkey and other countries — all worth more than $123,000, the indictment said.
Before a trip to Istanbul, an Adams employee asked a manager at a Turkish airline to charge him a “real” price to hide the travel gift, the indictment says.
“How much should I pay?” the airline executive asked in June 2021, just weeks before the Democratic primary.
“His every move is being watched right now,” the Adams employee said, according to the indictment. “$1,000 or more. Let it be a bit more realistic.”
Prosecutors say Adams kept fake paper trails and deleted messages to cover up his misconduct.
Then, in September 2021, a Turkish government official told Adams that it was his turn to support Turkey after the official helped arrange straw donations for his campaign.
The official wanted the new Turkish consulate building, a 36-story skyscraper, to be put into use during the high-level visit of the Turkish president.
Adams then began pressuring the then-fire commissioner to do what was necessary to get a permit to open the building, the indictment says.
When Adams delivered the news that the building would be put into use on time, the Turkish official called him “Turkey’s true friend”.
The Turkish embassy in Washington has so far made no comment on the plan, which threatens Adams or his political career.
Spiro, Thursday, He dismissed the indictment and claim against the mayor as overblown.
“You’re almost trying to bring them together and tell a story so they can say ‘corruption, corruption’ at a press conference,” Spiro said at a news conference Thursday.
But it’s not the only federal investigation plaguing the Adams administration.
Investigators in a separate investigation this month searched homes and seized phones belonging to several high-ranking people close to Adams. Police Commissioner Edward Caban, whose phones were seized He resigned on September 12.
Authorities also seized the phone of James Caban, Caban’s twin brother, a former police officer who owns a nightclub security business. Federal investigators were looking into whether bars and clubs in Manhattan and downtown Queens paid James Caban to contact the police and whether those clubs received special treatment from local precincts.
There is also one public corruption investigation another federal investigation that resulted in searches of the homes involved Adams’ director of Asian affairs.
“We’re continuing to dig and we’re going to bring more people to justice,” Williams said.