After being indicted last night by a grand jury in a federal investigation on unspecified charges, defiant Mayor Eric Adams claimed he was being persecuted by the federal government for speaking out about the New York City immigration crisis that has marked his administration since spring 2022.
Last night, before the allegation was made public, Adams had attended a reception with President Joe Biden and other world leaders who are in Manhattan for the United Nations General Assembly. “President Biden returned to the White House from New York City. As he was leaving, reporters shouted questions at him about the allegation against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, but it is unclear whether he heard them,” he reported. News Nation.
Adams, a former NYPD officer who took office on January 1, 2022 while maintaining Democratic Party hegemony in the city, is now the first New York mayor to be impeached while in office.
Details of the landmark indictment are expected to be released Thursday by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. The news was first reported by The New York Times. Adams will turn himself in to authorities early next week, he said. New York Post.
“I always knew that if I stood up for New Yorkers, I would be a target, and I became a target,” the mayor said in a video statement released last night. “If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
Adams, 64, insisted he would not resign — a call that had already grown in recent weeks over FBI investigations into several of his officials and/or the resignations of others — and pledged to “fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
“I will be asking for an immediate trial so that New Yorkers can hear the truth. New Yorkers know my story. They know where I come from. I have been fighting injustice my entire life. “That fight has continued as your mayor.”
“When the federal government stood by and did nothing while its failed immigration policies overwhelmed our shelter system without any relief, I put the people of New York before party and politics,” the mayor insisted.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul has not yet commented on the Adams crisis, but ironically she came into office when Andrew Cuomo resigned in the summer of 2021.
Sources told the New York Post Adams’ top campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, and his Asian Affairs director, Winnie Greco, will be named in the indictment. At least three other people are also expected to be charged, but their identities have not been confirmed.
Following news of the indictment, police set up barriers outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, last night and forced reporters out of the house.
Details about the exact charges are unclear, but they are believed to be related to allegations that the Turkish government illegally funneled money to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign in exchange for approval of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan, according to the sources.
It’s also unclear how the indictment relates to a series of raids on Sept. 4 that targeted several high-profile city officials, which sent City Hall into a weeks-long spiral as news emerged of investigations centered on alleged corruption in the mayor’s inner circle. Edward Cabán, the NYPD’s first Latino commissioner, resigned on Sept. 12 amid the FBI’s federal investigation.
The migration crisis has marked Mayor Adams’ administration, in the midst of a national political battle between Democrats and Republicans. In September of last year, the mayor declared that the massive arrival of immigrants would “destroy” the city, alleging a lack of resources and support from Joe Biden’s government.
Two months later, in November, another crisis arose: Adams had to cut short a trip to Washington DC and return to New York after it emerged that FBI agents had confiscated his electronic devices, including his iPad and phone.
Days later, Adams was also sued by Lorna Beach-Mahura for alleged sexual abuse committed 31 years ago, when he was an NYPD officer.
All charges are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.