New York mayor indicted for corruption

New York Mayor Eric Adams is on trial for illegal campaign financing and bribery. One trail leads to Turkey.

New York Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with illegal campaign financing, fraud and bribery. Turkish government officials are said to have given him money. Adams believes he is innocent and told members of the media that he wanted to give New Yorkers his “version of the story.” A few weeks before the US presidential election, the scandal comes at an inconvenient time for Vice President Kamala Harris: Adams is a politician from her Democratic Party.

On Thursday morning, police officers had already searched Adams’ official residence. The mayor’s employees are also being investigated. There is a suspicion that Adams made arrangements with Turkish government officials to receive illegal donations in return for certain official acts.

The investigation is investigating the extent to which construction companies with connections to Ankara were involved in the illegal campaign donations. There are suspicions that this is how Turkey received permission to build a skyscraper opposite the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan for the Turkish UN mission and the Turkish consulate general.

Against the background of the investigations by the New York public prosecutor’s office, several of the mayor’s close employees have already resigned from their positions in recent days. Police Chief Edward Caban also resigned in mid-September.

While Adams protested his innocence, prosecutor Damian Williams made serious allegations. The mayor committed a “serious breach of trust” by accepting gifts, Williams said at a press conference.

“He told the public that he did not receive any gifts, although he was secretly showered with gifts,” the prosecutor continued. The mayor has crossed “clear red lines” for years. The investigation into the corruption scandal has not yet been completed: “We will hold even more people accountable,” announced Williams.

The indictment relates to events that occurred around a decade ago, when Adams took office as mayor of Brooklyn. According to the indictment, he accepted a luxury trip from at least one Turkish government representative.

According to prosecutors, in 2017, Adams and his companions accepted a “heavily discounted” stay in the St. Regis Istanbul’s “Bentley Suite” worth more than $7,000. Two years later, Adams returned to the St. Regis, where he is said to have accepted a free two-night stay in the “Cosmopolitan Suite” and other travel perks. This is said to have included a car with driver, a boat tour to the Princes’ Islands in the Sea of ​​Marmara, a Turkish bath in a seaside hotel and at least one meal in a “high-end restaurant”. The public prosecutor’s office attached photos of the two luxury suites to the indictment.

As he began preparing his candidacy for mayor, Adams not only accepted “illegal campaign donations for his 2021 mayoral campaign” and other benefits from foreign nationals, but also specifically solicited them.

As Adams’ fame and influence grew, his “foreign patrons” attempted to “capitalize on their corrupt relationships,” especially when it became clear in 2021 that Adams would become mayor of the city of 8.5 million. Adams agreed and in return granted “preferential treatment,” the indictment continues.

Adams is an ex-police officer and the second black person to head the administration of the east coast metropolis. The 64-year-old wanted to run for re-election in 2025. Under his leadership, violent crime in the city has declined after the situation worsened during the coronavirus pandemic. However, there is an extreme housing shortage in New York, which has caused rents to rise to unprecedented levels.

Adams is a member of the Democratic Party, whose candidate, Vice President Harris, is running against Republican Donald Trump in the November 5 presidential election. Although Adams is not a confidant of Harris, the incident provides Republicans with campaign ammunition, said New York University expert Doug Muzzio. “You can say, ‘Look, this is the largest city in the United States, it’s run by Democrats, and there’s reason to believe that corruption is widespread there.’

There are discussions within the Democratic Party. Calls for resignation come from, among others, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez – and from competitors in the upcoming 2025 mayoral primary. These potential challengers include former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is rumored to be already in the starting blocks to succeed Adams.