纽约市长埃里克·亚当斯已被起诉周四上午公布的一份全面起诉书显示，指控的五项罪名是与不当利益、非法竞选捐款和试图掩盖有关的长期阴谋。
根据起诉书，64岁的亚当斯面临一项电信欺诈罪、一项共谋罪、两项教唆外国国民捐款罪和一项受贿罪，如果罪名成立，市长将面临很长时间的监禁。
亚当斯于2021年当选，是第一位面临指控的在任纽约市长。据法院称，他将于周五中午在一名联邦法官面前被传讯。
许多指控涉及亚当斯与富有的外国商人和土耳其官员的关系。
检察官说，亚当斯接受了超过10万美元的不当利益，其中许多是以航班升级和入住豪华酒店的形式提供的，没有一项是按要求公开披露的。
据称，他还在第一次竞选市长时接受了非法的竞选捐款，并为连任竞选筹集资金。
“被告埃里克·亚当斯(ERIC ADAMS)以‘提名人’或‘稻草’捐款的形式寻求并接受非法竞选捐款，这意味着真正的捐款人通过名义捐款人转移他们的资金，这些名义捐款人虚假地证明他们正在捐款，”起诉书称。
“由于这些虚假证明，亚当斯的2021年市长竞选获得了超过1000万美元的公共资金，”起诉书称。
起诉书公开后不久，亚当斯和一群支持者向媒体发表讲话，坚称自己是无辜的，并发誓要对抗指控。
“我要求纽约人在做出任何判断之前，先听听我们的辩护，”他在新闻发布会上说，在发布会期间，他遭到了一些诘问者的喊叫。
亚当斯发誓要继续履行自己的职责。
“我的日常生活不会改变，”他说。
“每个认识我的人都知道我遵守竞选规则，我遵守法律，”他多次重申。
然而，纽约南区的美国检察官达米安·威廉姆斯(Damian Williams)指控亚当斯多年来故意违反这些法律。
威廉姆斯在周四的新闻发布会上概述了起诉书中的指控，并指控亚当斯为土耳其商界领袖和政府官员提供特殊优惠，以换取竞选资金和奢华的礼物，包括升级的机票和旅行以及奢华的酒店房间。
“亚当斯至少早在2016年就开始接受未披露的豪华旅行福利。他几乎每年都享受这些福利，直到2021年，”他说。
据威莱姆斯说，这些礼物价值超过10万美元，但没有一件被公开。事实上，在某些情况下，他告诉员工他支付了旅行费用，而这是一个谎言，美国检察官指控。亚当斯在担任布鲁克林区区长时，据称在2019年1月在土耳其旅行时寻求外国竞选捐款。
“我想澄清的是，这些升舱和免费赠品并不是普通大众可以享受的常旅客或忠诚度计划的一部分。正如我们所声称的，这是一个多年的计划，旨在讨好一个正在崛起的纽约市政治家埃里克·亚当斯，”威廉姆斯说。
起诉书指控亚当斯利用稻草捐款申请该市的匹配资金计划，该计划为候选人提供公共资金，仅匹配纽约市居民为任何政治竞选活动提供的小额捐款。根据起诉书，早在2018年，亚当斯和一名身份不明的工作人员就与一名土耳其商人进行了沟通，这名商人为亚当斯的2021年市长竞选向稻草捐赠者提供了数万美元。
“总而言之，2021年的竞选活动获得了超过1000万美元的匹配资金，这些资金是基于竞选活动遵守法律的虚假证明，而事实上，被告埃里克·亚当斯(ERIC ADAMS)明知故犯地反复依赖非法捐款，”起诉书说。
此外，威廉姆斯声称，一名土耳其政府官员试图在2021年在曼哈顿开设一座新的高层建筑，作为土耳其领事馆的所在地，并敦促亚当斯加快建设许可。尽管纽约市消防安全专业人士发出警告，亚当斯还是向消防部门施压，要求开放该建筑。
“FDNY的专业人士确信，如果他们不让步，他们就会丢掉工作。他们确实这样做了。他们让开了路，让大楼开着。这位土耳其官员得到了他想要的，”威廉姆斯说。
“就在亚当斯完成交易的四天后，他又回去向土耳其航空公司索要更多的旅行福利，”威廉姆斯补充道。
亚当斯的律师亚历克斯·斯皮罗(Alex Spiro)在当天晚些时候的新闻发布会上站在他的当事人旁边，抨击联邦检察官。他称对亚当斯的起诉是“一个虚假的案件”，将普通的航空公司升级定为犯罪。
斯皮罗说:“我们谈论的总额是26000美元。”。
这位律师还代表了埃隆·马斯克和亚历克·鲍德温，他说，市长在一些电子邮件中说，“显然没有外国资金。”
被指控的行为发生在亚当斯担任市长之前，当时他担任布鲁克林区区长，一直到他竞选市长和任职期间。
“2014年，被告埃里克·亚当斯(ERIC ADAMS)成为布鲁克林区区长，”起诉书这样开头。“此后，在近十年的时间里，亚当斯寻求并接受了不正当的有价值的好处，如豪华的国际旅行，包括来自富有的外国商人和至少一名试图对他施加影响的土耳其政府官员的好处。”
“到2018年，亚当斯——当时他已经宣布了竞选纽约市市长的计划——不仅接受了，还寻求外国国民为他的2021年市长竞选提供非法竞选捐款，以及其他有价值的东西，”它继续说道。随着亚当斯的声望和权力的增长，他的外国捐赠者试图利用他们与他的腐败关系，特别是在2021年，亚当斯将成为纽约市市长的事情变得很明显
它继续说，“亚当斯同意，提供优惠待遇，以换取他收到的非法利益。在就任纽约市长后，亚当斯很快就开始为他的下一次选举做准备，包括计划征集更多的非法捐款，并批准那些用这些捐款支持他2021年市长竞选的人的请求。
威廉姆斯说，调查正在进行中，可能还有其他人受到指控。
斯皮罗告诉美国广播公司新闻，联邦特工周四早上出现在市长官邸格雷西大厦，并没收了市长的电话。
“他还没有被逮捕，并期待着他在法庭上的一天，”斯皮罗说。“他们派了十几个特工去拿一部手机，而我们本可以很高兴地把它上交。”
下午晚些时候，市长向所有城市雇员发送了一封电子邮件——由美国广播公司新闻获得——处理起诉书，并重申他没有做错任何事情。
“作为你们的市长，我承诺继续代表纽约人民战斗，”他说。“现在比以往任何时候都更重要的是，你们都要继续关注为纽约人提供服务。”
在周四晚上发布的一份声明中，纽约州州长凯西·霍楚尔表示，这是“纽约市非常困难的一天。”
“我仔细阅读了美国司法部公布的起诉书。这一指控是令人不安的事件模式中的最新一起，可以理解的是，这种模式导致了许多纽约人的不安感，”她在声明中说。
“我们的司法系统基于一项基本原则，即除非被证明是无辜的，否则我们所有人都应被推定无罪。然而，我们这些选择了公职生涯的人知道，我们被赋予了更高的标准。考虑到我们作为公务员的责任，这是完全合适的，”她继续说道。
Hochul说，她的重点是“保护纽约人民，确保城市的稳定。”
“在我审视我作为纽约州长的选择和义务的同时，我希望市长能够在接下来的几天里审视局势，找到一条合适的前进道路，以确保纽约市的人民得到他们的领导人的良好服务。我们必须让纽约人相信，各级政府都有稳定、负责任的领导层，”她的声明总结道。
New York City Mayor Eric Adams charged with fraud, accepting $10 million in improper campaign contributions
New York City Mayor Eric Adamshas been chargedwith five counts in an alleged long-standing conspiracy connected to improper benefits, illegal campaign contributions and an attempted cover-up, according to a sweeping indictment unsealed Thursday morning.
Adams, 64, faces one count of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy, two counts of solicitation of a contribution from a foreign national and one count of bribery, according to the indictment, charges that expose the mayor to significant prison time if convicted.
Adams, who was elected in 2021, is the first sitting New York City mayor to ever face charges. He will be arraigned before a federal magistrate at noon Friday, according to the court.
Many of the accusations relate to Adams' relationship with wealthy foreign businesspeople and Turkish officials.
Prosecutors say Adams accepted more than $100,000 in improper benefits, many of which came in the form of flight upgrades and stays in luxury hotels, none of which were publicly divulged as required.
He also allegedly received illegal campaign contributions to his first run for mayor and ongoing fundraising for a reelection run.
"ERIC ADAMS, the defendant, sought and accepted illegal campaign contributions in the form of 'nominee' or 'straw' contributions, meaning that the true contributors conveyed their money through nominal donors, who falsely certified they were contributing their own money," the indictment states.
"As a result of those false certifications, ADAMS's 2021 mayoral campaign received more than $10,000,000 in public funds," the indictment alleges.
Adams addressed the press shortly after the indictment was unsealed, alongside a group of supporters, maintaining his innocence and vowing to fight the charges.
"I ask New Yorkers to hear our defense before making any judgments," he said at the news conference, during which he was shouted at by some hecklers.
Adams vowed to continue to serve his duties.
"My day-to-day will not change," he said.
"Everyone who knows me knows I follow campaign rules and I follow the law," he reiterated several times.
Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, however, alleged that Adams knowingly violated those laws for years.
Williams outlined allegations in the indictment in a news conference Thursday and alleged Adams provided special favors for Turkish business leaders and government officials in exchange for campaign funds and lavish gifts, including upgraded airline tickets and trips and lavish hotel rooms.
"Adams started accepting undisclosed luxury travel benefits at least as early as 2016. He took these benefits nearly every year through 2021," he said.
The gifts were worth over $100,000 and none of it was disclosed, according to Willaims. In fact, in some cases he told staffers that he paid for the trips when that was a lie, the U.S. attorney alleged. Adams, when he was the Brooklyn borough president, allegedly solicited foreign campaign contributions while traveling in Turkey in January 2019.
"I want to be clear these upgrades and freebies were not part of some frequent flier or loyalty program available to the general public. As we alleged, this was a multi-year scheme to buy favor with a single New York City politician on the rise, Eric Adams," Williams said.
The indictment alleges Adams used straw donations to apply for the city's matching funds program, which gives candidates public funds to match small donations only from New York City residents for any political campaign. As early as 2018, Adams and an unidentified staff member were in communication with a Turkish businessperson who funneled tens of thousands of dollars to straw donors for Adams' 2021 mayoral campaign, according to the indictment.
"All told, the 2021 Campaign reaped over $10 million in Matching Funds based on the false certifications that the campaign complied with the law, when in fact ERIC ADAMS, the defendant, knowingly and repeatedly relied on illegal contributions," the indictment said.
In addition, Williams alleged that a Turkish government official tried to open a new high-rise building in 2021 in Manhattan that would house Turkey's consulate and pushed Adams to speed up the construction permits. Despite warnings from New York City fire safety professionals, Adams pressured the fire department to open the building.
"The FDNY professionals were convinced that they would lose their jobs if they didn't back down. And so they did. They got out of the way and let the building open. The Turkish official got what he wanted," Williams said.
"Just four days after Adams held up his end of the bargain, he went right back to soliciting more travel benefits from the Turkish airline," Williams added.
Adams' lawyer, Alex Spiro, stood next to his client at a news conference later in the day and blasted federal prosecutors. He called the indictment against Adams "a fake case" that criminalizes ordinary airline upgrades.
"We are talking about a total of $26,000," Spiro said.
The attorney, who has also represented Elon Musk and Alec Baldwin, said there are emails in which the mayor said, "clearly no foreign money."
The alleged conduct predates Adams' time as mayor, when he served as Brooklyn borough president, up through his campaign for mayor and during his time in office.
"In 2014, ERIC ADAMS, the defendant, became Brooklyn Borough President," the indictment begins. "Thereafter, for nearly a decade, ADAMS sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him."
"By 2018, ADAMS-who had by then made known his plans to run for Mayor of New York City-not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, as well as other things of value, from foreign nationals," it continued. "As ADAMS's prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that ADAMS would become New York City's mayor."
It continued, "ADAMS agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received. After his inauguration as Mayor of New York City, ADAMS soon began preparing for his next election, including by planning to solicit more illegal contributions and granting requests from those who supported his 2021 mayoral campaign with such donations."
Williams said the investigation is ongoing and there may be others charged.
Federal agents showed up at Gracie Mansion, the city's mayoral residence, and seized the mayor's phone Thursday morning, Spiro told ABC News.
"He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court," Spiro said. "They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in."
Later in the afternoon, the mayor sent an e-mail to all city employees -- obtained by ABC News -- addressing the indictment and reiterating he has not done anything wrong.
"I am committed to continuing to fight on behalf of New Yorkers as your mayor," he said. "And it is critical, now more than ever, that you all remain focused on delivering for New Yorkers as well."
In a statement released on Thursday night, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said it was "an extraordinarily difficult day for New York City."
“I have carefully reviewed the indictment released by the United States Department of Justice. This indictment is the latest in a disturbing pattern of events that has, understandably, contributed to a sense of unease among many New Yorkers," she said in her statement.
“Our judicial system is based on the foundational principle that all of us are presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Yet those of us who have chosen a career in elected office know that we're held to a higher standard. Given the responsibilities we hold as public servants, that's entirely appropriate," she continued.
Hochul said her focus is "protecting the people of New York and ensuring stability in the City."
"While I review my options and obligations as the Governor of New York, I expect the Mayor to take the next few days to review the situation and find an appropriate path forward to ensure the people of New York City are being well-served by their leaders. We must give New Yorkers confidence that there is steady, responsible leadership at every level of government," her statement concluded.
