On Friday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) traveled to a Manhattan courthouse to face the federal charges brought against him for alleged corruption earlier this week. The NYC mayor pleaded not guilty to the charges, which included bribery conspiracy, wire fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. Adams is the first mayor of the Big Apple to face federal charges.
The charges, brought by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, accuse Adams of improperly accepting various gifts from the Turkish government going as far back as 2014 when he first took office as Brooklyn borough president. According to the indictment, Adams partook in luxury international travel thanks to various wealthy businessmen and at least one Turkish government official.
During his 2021 run for mayor, Adams lobbied for campaign contributions from those who supported him, and his benefactors sought to use their influence with the mayor to benefit themselves. One of those favors included pressuring Fire Department officials to approve a high-rise Turkish consulate in preparation for a visit from the country's president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
According to The New York Times, the unsealed indictment coincided with an FBI raid on Gracie Mansion, the mayor's home on the Upper East Side.
In response to the indictment, Mayor Adams said he was innocent. "I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target - and a target I became," Adams told The New York Post. "If I am charged, I am innocent, and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit."
Despite pleading not guilty and attempting to assure the public of his innocence, his fellow Democrats have begun to call on him to step aside. After Rep. Alexandria Ocacio-Cortez (D-NY) demanded that Adams step aside "for the good of the city" earlier this week, Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY) demanded the same on Friday.
"I have long been a defender of civil rights and civil liberties, and I strongly believe that every individual, no matter who they are, is guaranteed due process under the law," Nadler wrote in a statement. "While the criminal charges outlined in the indictment by the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York are very serious, Mayor Adams deserves the right to due process and to be treated as presumed innocent until proven guilty."
"However, there are questions of whether the Mayor can continue to effectively lead our City at this time. My belief is that the Mayor has lost the ability to effectively lead the City of New York, and therefore, he must resign," Nadler concluded.
https://twitter.com/RepJerryNadler/status/1839674426138210316
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