New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a grand jury on federal criminal charges. He is the first mayor in the modern history of the city to be indicted while still in office. According to the Associated Press (AP), the details of the charges against the Democrat Mayor were still sealed as of late Wednesday. The US attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment as well.
According to The New York Times, which was the first to report this, it is unclear when Adams would surrender to the authorities. The mayor is expected to have several days to turn himself in, CNN reported, citing a source.
“I always knew that If I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became,” Adams, 64, said in a statement that implied he hadn’t been informed of the indictment, according to AP. “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 residents 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, according to AP. “Make no mistake. You elected me to lead this city and lead it I will.”
According to The New York Times, the indictment comes nearly a year after federal agents searched the home of Adams' chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. They also confiscated the mayor’s phones and iPad as he was leaving a public event in Manhattan a few days later. Adams has consistently said he has done nothing wrong and is said to be cooperating with the authorities, according to his aides, as per the report.
Suggs has not been charged with any crimes, reported CNN.
Adams, a former police captain, won the mayoral election nearly three years ago to become the second Black mayor of the nation’s largest city, basing his campaign on a platform that promised a law-and-order approach to reducing crime.
Earlier this month, 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 in and out of City Hall.
A week after the searches, Police Commissioner Edward Caban announced his resignation, and told officers that he didn’t want the investigations “to create a distraction". Two weeks later, Schools Chancellor David Banks announced that he would retire at the end of the year.
According to CNN, while Adams is not obligated to step down due to the charges, the political pressure is mounting. He is faced with immediate calls to resign from many of his declared or expected Democratic challengers.
US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is the first nationally prominent Democrat to call on Adams to resign. She cited the federal criminal investigations into the mayor’s administration and the string of unexpected departures of top city officials.
“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City,” she wrote on X. Adams has dismissed Ocasio-Cortez as "self-righteous".