What’s in the 5-count indictment against NYC Mayor Eric Adams
By Eric Levenson and Celina Tebor, CNN
(CNN) — The indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams unsealed Thursday morning alleges he secretly solicited and accepted freebies and illegal campaign donations from wealthy foreigners, including Turkish officials, as far back as 2014.
In exchange, he pressured the Fire Department of New York to approve the opening of a new Turkish consular building in the city without a fire inspection, the indictment states. In addition, his campaign used those illegal campaign donations to “steal public funds” through New York City’s matching funds, according to the indictment.
Those allegations represent the core of the federal indictment charging Adams with five counts: bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and two counts of soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals.
Adams, a Democrat elected in 2021, has denied wrongdoing and said he does not plan to resign.
“I look forward to defending myself and defending the people of this city as I’ve done throughout my entire professional career,” Adams said.
CNN combed through the 57-page, 15,000-word indictment to understand some of its key points. In all, the indictment lays out what Adams allegedly received from and gave to foreign nationals, his efforts to conceal his conduct and the specific charges prosecutors hope to prove.
What Adams allegedly accepted
For nearly a decade, Adams sought out and accepted benefits such as free luxury travel and campaign donations from foreign businessmen, the indictment alleges.
Between 2016 and October 2023, he allegedly committed 23 different “overt acts,” which include accepting free flights and hotel rooms and coordinating straw donations.
Prosecutors say the foreign nationals were able to sidestep federal law and conceal their campaign donations through these “straw donors” – US-based donors who falsely claimed they were contributing their own money.
The indictment details free tickets and upgrades to business class on international flights for the mayor and his associates. He allegedly accepted free stays at “opulent” hotels, meals at high-end restaurants, and other “luxurious entertainment while in Turkey.”
In 2017, Adams allegedly accepted free business class tickets for three roundtrip international flights and a heavily discounted stay at a suite in the St. Regis Istanbul. The trip was worth over $41,000, and Adams did not disclose it, the indictment alleges.
Adams allegedly accepted over $123,000 worth of luxury travel benefits between 2016 and 2021, without disclosing any of it.
By 2018, the mayor allegedly “not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, as well as other things of value, from foreign nationals.”
By January 2022, he had agreed to accept contributions of foreign money to his 2025 campaign, the indictment alleges.
‘His turn to repay:’ What Adams allegedly gave
In exchange for receiving luxury travel and other benefits from Turkish officials, Adams allegedly pressured the Fire Department of New York to open a Turkish consular building without a fire inspection in time for a high-profile visit from Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
In September 2021, a Turkish official told the mayor “it was his turn to repay,” the indictment says.
The official urged Adams to pressure FDNY to “facilitate the opening of a new Turkish consular building” without a fire inspection, the indictment says.
The building would have failed an FDNY inspection at the time, court documents allege – after inspecting the building, an FDNY employee described the building as having “some major issues.”
Adams pleaded with the FDNY Commissioner to approve the building, prosecutors say. That day, the FDNY Chief of Department allegedly told the fire prevention chief that they would both lose their jobs if they did not help secure a certificate for the building.
The prevention chief then drafted “a conditional letter of no objection” to the issuance of the certificate, which was not FDNY standard procedure, the indictment says.
After Adams intervened, the skyscraper eventually opened as requested by the Turkish official, court documents say.
CNN has reached out to the Turkish House and the FDNY.
Alleged efforts to conceal scheme
The indictment states that Adams and co-conspirators, including an unnamed “Adams staffer,” tried to conceal their conduct from the public by allegedly creating fake paper trails, deleting messages and changing his phone password.
“As described above, Adams repeatedly did not disclose the free and heavily discounted travel benefits he accepted from the Turkish Official, the Promoter, and the Airline Manager; created a false paper trail to suggest he had paid for this travel when, in fact, he had not; assured the Adams Staffer that he had a practice of deleting all his messages with the Adams Staffer; and directed the Adams Staffer to ensure that his activities in Turkey in 2021 were shielded from public view,” the indictment states.
Adams and others took steps to conceal the scheme even after they learned about the federal investigation last November, prosecutors allege.
In one instance, during an interview with investigators, an Adams staffer left to go to the bathroom and deleted encrypted messaging apps she had used to communicate with Adams and others, the indictment states.
Another instance allegedly involved the passcode on Adams’ personal cell phone.
When investigators executed a search warrant for Adams’ electronic devices on November 6, he didn’t have his personal phone with him, the indictment states. He provided it to investigators the next day pursuant to a subpoena, but it was “locked” and required a password, the indictment states. Adams said he had changed the password a day earlier “to prevent members of his staff from inadvertently or intentionally deleting the contents of his phone,” the indictment states.
He then claimed he had forgotten the new password, prosecutors allege.
A closer look at the charges
In all, Adams is charged with five counts punishable by up to 45 years in prison, according to the US Attorney’s Office.
The most serious charge is wire fraud, which comes with a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. The charge stems from allegations that Adams stole from New York City’s matching funds program. The program is designed “to give New Yorkers a greater voice in elections,” and matches donations from City residents with public funds, but it prohibits the use of “straw donations,” according to the indictment. The program requires candidates to certify compliance with campaign finance regulations.
The indictment alleges Adams not only received illegal campaign contributions, but he then allegedly used eight of those improper donations to apply for matching funds and obtained as much as $2,000 for each illegal contribution. His campaign then falsely certified compliance, the indictment states.
The indictment does not total the amount of matching public funds he allegedly received directly from the eight illegal straw donations. Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign ultimately received more than $10 million in public funds from the city’s matching funds program, according to the indictment.
Bribery is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. That charge relates to the alleged quid-pro-quo of receiving luxury travel benefits from the Turkish official in exchange for pushing the approval of the Turkish House, the indictment states.
The two counts of soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals are each punishable by up to 5 years in prison. One of the charges is based on allegations in 2021 and the other is based on allegations in 2023.
Finally, there is a conspiracy charge, which is punishable by up to 5 years in prison. That charge alleges Adams “and others known and unknown” agreed to commit federal offenses, including wire fraud; soliciting, accepting and receiving a campaign contribution; and bribery. The indictment lists 23 specific “overt acts” in furtherance of the conspiracy.
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CNN’s Jeff Winter, Nicki Brown and Artemis Moshtaghian contributed to this report.
