New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks at a press conference at City Hall, after it was announced that he had received a new round of grand juries, in New York City, US, August 16, 2024.
Adam Gray | Reuters
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on criminal charges in federal court in Manhattan, sources familiar with the matter told CNBC Wednesday night.
The lawsuit, which remains unsealed for now, at least in part accuses Adams of criminal conduct related to donations to his 2021 mayoral campaign.
The source said the indictment mentions up to $20 million in donations Adams’ campaign received as a result of the city’s Campaign Finance Program, which offers candidates small-dollar donations to New York City residents.
Adams, a former police captain, is at least the second New York mayor to be indicted for a crime while in office, and the first officer in his administration to be indicted as a result of the ongoing New York Police Department investigation. and officials from the city’s top schools.
It was previously known that the US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan was investigating Adams for colluding with the Turkish government to make illegal contributions to the campaign.
The New York Times on Monday reported that prosecutors subpoenaed City Hall, Adams, and his campaign in July for information related to four other countries: Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan.
Adams released a defiant statement Wednesday night after news of the impeachment broke.
“I always knew that if I represented the people of New York that I would be a victim — and I have been,” he said.
“If I’m charged, I’m innocent and I’m going to fight this with all my might and spirit,” said Adams, who after serving in the Police Department served as a state senator and Brooklyn Borough President.
The US attorney’s office and the FBI declined to comment on the case.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called on the mayor to resign, saying the “flood of resignations and vacancies” caused by various investigations of administration officials “threaten the jobs of government.”
“For the good of the city you have to clear it,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
If Adams resigns before the end of his first term in office, he will be replaced by New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams as acting mayor.
Democratic Mayoral candidate Eric Adams shakes hands with Jumaane Williams, New York City Public Advocate, and NYC candidate Brad Lander during a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) rally in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall on October 22, 2021 in Downtown Brooklyn New York. The city.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
There are many federal investigations into Adams and people connected to him and his administration.
On Tuesday, city Schools Chancellor David Banks told Adams he expects him to retire at the end of 2024.
Banks’ surprise announcement came weeks after authorities seized electronics belonging to him, his brother, Deputy Mayor Phil Banks and his fiancee, Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.
Another Banks brother, Terence, is being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan for the distribution of multimillion-dollar city-related communications to companies that acquired them after hiring Terence Banks’ communications company.
The same prosecutor’s office is investigating whether James Caban, the twin brother of former New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban, abused his relationship with his brother and the NYPD to benefit his nightclub security business.
Edward Caban resigned as police commissioner on September 12, a week after his phone was tapped by federal investigators.
Three days after Edward Caban resigned, Adam’s mayoral counsel and senior legal counsel Lisa Zornberg resigned, saying she had “concluded that I could no longer serve in my position.”
Last Friday, federal investigators executed search warrants at the homes of Thomas Donlon, acting commissioner of the NYPD.
Donlon, the FBI’s former top counterterrorism officer in New York, said this week that investigators “seized material that I obtained 20 years ago that was not related to my work with the New York Police Department.”
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