New York Mayor Eric Adams impeached: Everything you need to know | Stories to Explain

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been charged with accepting bribes and soliciting illegal foreign contributions to his campaign, according to an indictment filed Thursday. He is the first sitting New York mayor in modern history to face criminal charges.

The 57-page indictment is the culmination of a long-running investigation into Adams’ 2021 election campaign and alleged ties to Turkish government officials. It has involved weeks of manhunt by federal agents, led to the resignation of top officials and has plunged city government into crisis.

Federal agents raided the mayor’s home, Gracie Mansion, on Thursday morning and seized Adams’ cell phone.

The mayor is not required to resign as a result of the impeachment, but may come under political pressure to do so.

In a pre-recorded video he released on Wednesday evening, Adams, 64, denied all the charges against him and described them as “absolutely false” and “based on lies”. “I will fight this injustice with all my strength and my spirit,” he said.

Here’s more about Adams and the case:

Who is Eric Adams?

A member of the Democratic Party, Adams was previously an officer in the New York City Transit Police and then the New York City Police Department, retiring in 2006 with the rank of captain after 20 years of service.

Starting in 2022, he served as the 110th mayor of New York City after winning the election in November 2021. It was a victory that he has repeatedly said was “ordained by God”.

After committing to fighting rising crime and restoring New York to calm after the COVID-19 pandemic, Adams went on to win to become the second black mayor in the city’s history. David Dinkins was the first, working in the early 1990s.

As mayor of New York City, Adams implemented a zero-tolerance policy for homeless people sleeping in subway cars, and increased police presence on the subway system.

Now, nearly three years into his first term, Adams is facing charges that could jeopardize his office and threaten the future of his political career.

Calls for him to step down have intensified over the past few weeks.

Corruption scandals previously led to the resignation of two New York City mayors: Jimmy Walker in 1932 and William O’Dwyer in 1950. But Adams is the first mayor in New York City to be impeached while in office.

“I always knew that if I stood up for New Yorkers that I would be a victim – and I was. If I am accused, I am innocent and I will fight with all my strength and spirit,” Adams said in response to the news on Wednesday night.

What is Eric Adams accused of?

Adams faces five different criminal charges, including those related to bribery, soliciting illegal foreign donations, wire fraud and accepting lavish trips and lavish gifts from wealthy foreign businessmen and a Turkish government official.

At a press conference Thursday morning, New York State Attorney General Damian Williams said Adams sought and received illegal foreign and corporate donations from his campaign funds and received more than $100,000 in luxury travel benefits from foreign businessmen and officials. “The mayor had a duty to disclose these benefits, but year after year he kept the public in the dark,” said Williams.

Williams revealed a list of luxury travel benefits, including airline upgrades and luxury hotels, that Adams had received between 2016 and 2021. He added that Adams “created paper trails to try to cover up the benefits he received”.

In 2021, the attorney general alleged, Adams pressured New York City Fire Department officials to sign off on a new high-rise building for the Turkish Consulate General despite security concerns. This, the charges against Adams, were “payback” for all the benefits he had received. “Adams abused his privilege and violated the law,” Williams said.

The investigation into Adams’ activities is ongoing, he added.

Is anyone else under investigation?

In the past few days, amid an ongoing investigation, Adams police and health commissioners Edward Caban and Ashwin Vasan, schools chancellor David Banks and attorney general Lisa Zornberg have all resigned.

Caban’s phone call was intercepted on September 12 as part of a federal investigation and he was forced to resign. Days later, City Hall’s top lawyer Zornberg resigned, saying he “can no longer work effectively”. A week later, Banks announced he would retire at the end of the year, leaving his post as head of the nation’s largest public school system, days after federal investigators searched his home and seized his cell phones under a federal search warrant.

Federal investigators also seized the cell phones of some of Adams’ closest advisers, including Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Philip Banks III and First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright. The police raided the homes of some of these counselors.

The first sign that authorities were investigating people close to Adams came last November, when agents searched the home of one of his biggest collectors, Brianna Suggs.

What does impeachment mean?

According to the US Department of Justice, an indictment is the process by which a person receives “legal notice that they are believed to have committed a crime”.

A charge sheet informs a person of the charges against him.

It occurs after a grand jury has examined all possible evidence to determine whether a crime has been committed. If the judge decides there is enough evidence, an indictment will be issued.

In this case, the mayor is expected to have a few days to surrender to the authorities, according to a CNN report.

Adams has made it clear that he will not step down. “I put the people of New York before party and politics. Now, If I am indicted, many may say that I should resign because I cannot manage the city while fighting the case. Make no mistake, if you chose me to lead this city, I will lead it,” said Adams in his statement on Wednesday.

Can he be forced to resign?

Yes. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul has the power to remove the mayor of New York City from office.

Hochul, who is his spokesman, said Thursday morning that “it will be too soon to comment” on Adams’ case, he has the authority to suspend the mayor for up to 30 days and remove him “after he has served a copy of the charges and the opportunity to be heard in his defense”.

But the governor’s power to replace the mayor of New York City has not been exercised in recent times. The most recent precedent is in 1931, when Governor Franklin D Roosevelt held a 14-day impeachment trial of Mayor Jimmy Walker, who eventually resigned in 1932.

Therefore, it is unclear whether Hochul will use this power, or how.

If Adams decides to resign before the end of his term in December 2025, the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, will become acting mayor and a special election will be scheduled.

That election could attract many candidates, some of whom have already announced their intention to face Adams in next year’s Democratic primary.

The next general election is scheduled to be held on November 4, 2025.

What has been the reaction to the accusation?

Since the impeachment was announced, a growing number of politicians have been calling for Adams to resign, including at least 10 members of the New York City Council and other lawmakers, among them Assembly members Carmen De La Rosa, Tiffany Caban and Robert Holden.

New York City Council members including Robert Carroll and Zohran Kwame Mamdani, as well as New York Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also called for the mayor’s resignation.

I don’t see how Mayor Adams can continue to rule New York City.

A flood of resignations and vacancies is jeopardizing the government’s work. Incessant scrutiny will make it impossible to hire and retain qualified managers.

For the good of the city, he must clear.…

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) September 25, 2024