New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a grand jury on federal criminal charges, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The indictment detailing the charges against Adams, a Democrat, was still sealed late Wednesday, according to the people, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment. The New York Times first reported the indictment.
“I always knew that If I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became,” Adams said in a statement that implied he hadn’t been informed of the indictment. “If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
In a speech recorded at his official residence, Adams acknowledged that some New Yorkers would question his ability to manage the city while he fights the charges, but he vowed to stay in office.
“I have been facing these lies for months … yet the city has continued to improve,” Adams said. “Make no mistake. You elected me to lead this city and lead it I will.”
It was not immediately clear when the charges would be made public or when Adams might have to appear in court.
The indictment marks a stunning turn for Adams, a former police captain who won election nearly three years ago to become the second Black mayor of the nation’s largest city on a platform that promised a law-and-order approach to reducing crime.
Ongoing investigations
For much of the last year, Adams has faced growing legal peril, with multiple federal investigations into top advisers producing a drumbeat of subpoenas, searches and high-level departures that has thrust City Hall into crisis.
He had repeatedly said he wasn’t aware of any wrongdoing and vowed as recently as Wednesday afternoon to stay in office.
Adams is the first mayor in New York City history to be indicted while in office. If he were to resign, he would be replaced by the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, who would then schedule a special election.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has the power to remove Adams from office. Hochul’s office did not immediately return a request for comment Wednesday night.
Hours before the charges were announced, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on Adams to resign. She cited the federal criminal investigations into the mayor’s administration and a string of unexpected departures of top city officials.
“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on the social platform X.
Adams reacted with scorn, dismissing Ocasio-Cortez as self-righteous.
News of investigations broke last year
The federal investigations into Adams administration first emerged publicly on Nov. 2, 2023, when FBI agents conducted an early morning raid on the Brooklyn home of Adams’s chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs.
At the time, Adams insisted he followed the law and said he would be “shocked” if anyone on his campaign had acted illegally. “I cannot tell you how much I start the day with telling my team we’ve got to follow the law,” he told reporters at the time.
Days later, FBI agents seized the mayor’s phones and iPad as he was leaving an event in Manhattan. The interaction was disclosed several days later by the mayor’s attorney.
Then on Sept. 4, federal investigators seized electronic devices from the city’s police commissioner, schools chancellor, deputy mayor of public safety, first deputy mayor and other trusted confidantes of Adams both in and out of City Hall.
Federal prosecutors declined to discuss the investigations but people familiar with elements of the cases described multiple, separate inquiries involving senior Adams aides, relatives of those aides, campaign fundraising and possible influence peddling of the police and fire departments.
A week after the searches, Police Commissioner Edward Caban announced his resignation, telling officers that he didn’t want the investigations “to create a distraction.” About two weeks later, Schools Chancellor David Banks announced that he would retire at the end of the year.
Adams himself insisted he would keep doing the city’s business and allow the investigations to run their course.
Over the summer, federal prosecutors subpoenaed Adams, his campaign arm and City Hall, requesting information about the mayor’s schedule, his overseas travel and potential connections to the Turkish government.
Adams spent 22 years in New York City’s police department before going into politics, first as a state senator and then as Brooklyn borough president, a largely ceremonial position.
He was elected mayor in 2021.
Declining popularity for mayor
After more than two years in office, Adams’s popularity has declined. While the city has seen an increase in jobs and a drop in certain categories of crime, the administration has been preoccupied with efforts to find housing for tens of thousands of international migrants who overwhelmed the city’s homeless shelters.
There has also been a steady drip of accusations and a swirl of suspicion around people close to the mayor.
The Manhattan District Attorney brought charges against six people — including a former police captain long close with Adams — over an alleged scheme to funnel tens of thousands of dollars to the mayor’s campaign by manipulating the public matching funds programs in the hopes of receiving preferential treatment from the city. Adams was not accused of wrongdoing in that case.
Adams’s former top building-safety official, Eric Ulrich, was charged last year with accepting $150,000 US in bribes and improper gifts in exchange for political favours, including providing access to the mayor. Ulrich pleaded not guilty and is fighting the charges.
In February, federal investigators searched two properties owned by one of Adams’s close aides, Winnie Greco, who had raised thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the city’s Chinese American communities and later became his director of Asian affairs. Greco hasn’t commented publicly on the FBI searches of her properties and continues to work for the city.
When agents seized electronic devices from Caban, the former police commissioner, in early September, they also visited his twin brother, James Caban, a former police officer who runs a nightlife consulting business.
Agents also took devices from the schools chancellor; his brother Philip Banks, formerly a top NYPD chief who is now deputy mayor for public safety; their brother Terence Banks, who ran a consulting firm that promised to connect businesses to government stakeholders; and from First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, who is David Banks’ domestic partner.
All denied any wrongdoing.
