Eric Adams ‘traded favors with corrupt international governments’

As prosecutors laid out their case against Eric Adams, some New Yorkers felt the charges against the NYC mayor were underwhelming and shared their amazement at how Adams allegedly incriminated himself.

Critics mocked Adams for ‘ruining his career’ over seemingly small perks and freebies such as flight upgrades and hotel suites.

After the indictment against Adams was unsealed, one person said on X: ‘So Eric Adams ruined his life over $100,000 worth of free flights and some hotels… just a flat out dummy.’

‘Somebody please tell me this is not about flight upgrades,’ said another.

Allegations that Adams improperly received campaign funds were also mocked as some noted that he ‘could have had that money placed in a PAC.’

‘Why on earth did he put himself in harms way?’ one questioned.

Some critics also pointed to allegations launched at Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas earlier this year after he was accused of accepting luxury gifts from donors.

On X, some drew the comparison, with one quipping: ‘All the stuff they got Eric Adams for is Clarence Thomas’ average week.’

‘If things don’t work out for NY Mayor Eric Adams, perhaps he can fall back on seeking a Republican nomination to the Supreme Court,’ joked another.

‘Adams and Clarence Thomas could open up a travel agency.’

Eric Adams quickly enlisted the services of high-profile celebrity lawyer Alex Spiro as federal prosecutors brought a historic indictment against him.

Spiro is known as a go-to for celebrities battling legal woes, and helps Adams off the back of securing Alec Baldwin’s freedom in his Rust shooting trial in July.

A partner at law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, Spiro’s list of clients also includes Elon Musk, Kanye West, and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.

As federal agents raided Adam’s Gracie Mansion residence on Thursday morning, Spiro captured attention as he issued a scathing response to prosecutors over the move.

‘They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in,’ Spiro said in a statement.

‘Federal agents appeared this morning at Gracie Mansion in an effort to create a spectacle (again) and take [Adams’] phone (again). He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court.’

Resurfaced images show embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams enjoying trips to foreign nations that prosecutors now allege were part of wide-ranging corruption in his office.

Adams is seen beaming in pictures from a 2021 trip to Ghana, where prosecutors claim he received free upgraded flights for two on his journey from New York.

He also allegedly received a free meal and transportation during a layover in Istanbul, and accepted gifts and amenities on the trip worth upwards of $12,000, prosecutors said.

Another image from 2017 shows Adams on a trip to China, which came after he allegedly accepted free business class tickets to fly to the nation with a stop off in Turkey – worth over $16,000, prosecutors claimed.

Eric Adams allegedly pressured the FDNY to open a Turkish government-owned high rise in Manhattan in exchange for a number of ‘luxury travel benefits’ – despite the building failing safety inspections.

US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams claimed ‘Adams took corrupt official action in exchange for some of the luxury travel benefits.’

He alleged there were ‘significant time pressures’ to open the building in time for a visit from Turkey’s president, at the urging of a Turkish official.

Adams allegedly accepted over $100,000 worth of amenities and gifts from the Turkish government in exchange for ‘influence over him’, Williams said.

At a press conference held just minutes after Adams held his own outside the Gracie Mansion, Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District, laid out his case against Adams.

He accused Adams of failing to declare an alleged array of gifts and kickbacks on public disclosure forms, even as the mayor boasted that he ‘never’ accepted gifts.

Williams said Adams’ close ties with the foreign governments dated back as far as 2016, and claimed he would guide city policy to help those who gave him perks.

‘(Adams) crossed bright red lines’ again and again, Williams said, alleging that Adams’ took ‘corrupt official action’ while in office.

According to prosecutors, Eric Adams accepted an array of luxury gifts and amenities from foreign governments who hoped to buy influence with him.

This included free trips, hotel suites and airline upgrades valued at over $100,000.

For example, he allegedly accepted free business class upgrades with companions for flights from New York to France, Turkey, Sri Lank and China in July 2017.

That same month, he also allegedly enjoyed a hugely discounted stay at the Bentley Suite in the St. Regis Hotel in Instanbul, valued at over $3,5000 per night but for which he only paid $300 per night.

Another alleged instance came as one of Adams’ staffers made a reservation for a flight to Turkey on the day of the 2021 NYC Democratic primary.

According to prosecutors, when the airline suggested he stay at the Four Seasons, the staffer said it would be ‘too expensive’ – to which the airline manager responded: ‘Why does he care? He is not going to pay.’

The airline manager allegedly added that Adams’ ‘name will not be on anything either’, to which the staffer responded: ‘Super.’

Eric Adams held a press conference outside the Gracie Mansion shortly after the federal indictment against him was unsealed on Thursday.

The NYC mayor, 64, defied mounting calls for his resignation as he spoke surrounded by Black community leaders in the city, saying he ‘will continue to do the job that I was elected to do.’

‘My day to day will not change,’ Adams said, adding that his lawyers will ‘take care of the case.’

Asked if he had any plans to resign, Adams responded: ‘I was elected by 700,000 people.’

‘Everyone who knows me knows that I follow the campaign rules and I follow the law,’ he said.

As Adams spoke, a group of angry protestors shouted him down and demanded he step down from office.

This led one of his supporters around him, Hazel Jones, to shout back from the podium for the protestors to ‘shut up.’

Eric Adams’ close ties to the Turkish government have been exposed in a damning indictment unsealed on Thursday by prosecutors.

According to the indictment, Adams’ relationship with Turkish officials saw him accept a number of luxurious gifts, including stays in lavish Instanbul hotels.

This included a stay in the St Regis Instanbul hotel, where he stayed with a ‘partner’ in a luxury suite that would typically have cost $7,000 for two nights, but he allegedly only paid $600.

He is accused of accepting flights from Turkish Airlines ‘even when doing so was otherwise inconvenient’, with a July 2017 trip from New York to France seeing him stop in Turkey.

When his partner asked him why he was in Turkey, he allegedly responded: ‘ransferring here. You know first stop is always Instanbul.’

Eric Adams is accused in a newly unsealed indictment of defrauding New York taxpayers of millions of dollars through allegedly fraudulent campaign funds.

The NYC Mayor allegedly took advantage of the city’s system of matching campaign contributions with tax dollars, and ‘fraudulently obtained as much as $2,000 in public funds for each illegal contribution’, per the indictment.

He was allegedly ‘relying on the concealed nature of these illegal contributions to falsely porttray his campaigns as law-abiding.’

‘As a result of those false certifications, Adam’s 2021 mayoral campaign received more than $10,000,000 in public funds’, prosecutors said.

The indictment against Eric Adams has been unsealed.

The New York City Mayor is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and receiving campaign contributions by foreign nationals.

He is also facing one count of wire fraud, two counts of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national, and one count of bribery.

Activist Hazel Dukes, 92, the former head of the NAACP, has been spotted visiting Eric Adams’ Gracie Mansion.

The surprise visit came as federal agents were also on the scene, where they seized Adams’ cellphone and carried out a cache of documents and bags from the mayor’s official residence.

Hazel Dukes’ appearance comes as Adams faces mounting calls for his resignation.

According to the New York Post, Dukes is among several longtime allies of the NYC mayor who are set to fundraise for his legal defense fund.

Hazel joins other boosters including the chief of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, in supporting Adams.

The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced a news conference for 11:30am ET on Thursday to speak on the indictment against Eric Adams.

The indictment, revealed on Wednesday evening, is currently sealed, however Adams said he anticipates he will face federal charges.

Williams’ press conference will also feature James E. Dennehy, the assistant director in charge of the F.B.I.’s New York office, and Jocelyn E. Strauber, the commissioner of the city’s Department of Investigation.

The same night that the federal indictment against Eric Adams was made public, the embattled mayor was attending a reception with President Biden and other world leaders.

The event was held at Manhattan’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, which was closed to the press, with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and First Lady Jill Biden also said to be in attendance.

Adams released a response video shortly after, in which he said he was targeted by Biden’s federal government because of his stance on the migrant crisis.

The mayor also allegedly partied at one of his favorite Manhattan members clubs shortly after taping his response.

Gerson Borrero, a political commentator with NY1, said on X that he ‘was told that he then went to one of his regular clubs in Manhattan and was there for two hours.’

Disgruntled New Yorkers made light of the situation after Mayor Eric Adams made history as the first NYC mayor to face charges.

In City Hall, pranksters appeared to jokingly make an ‘Eric Adams legal defense fund’ inside the building’s press room out of a cardboard box.

Others attempted to link Adams’ anticipated arrest with the shocking indictment of disgraced rap mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

After Adams awarded Combs the key to the city last September, which he later took back, New Yorkers quipped that they ‘gotta recreate’ a smiling picture from that day ‘with the key to their jail cells.’

And amid reports that Adams partied in Manhattan after filming a response to the indictment, one commenter said ‘Zero Bond takes on a whole new meaning’ – in reference to the Zero Bond member’s club that Adams is said to frequent.

Eric Adams has insisted that he has no plans to resign after a grand jury returned a federal indictment against him, as he claims he was ‘targeted’ because of his stance on the migrant crisis.

But Adams may not have a choice as New York Governor Kathy Hochul has the power to remove him from office through a complex system that hasn’t been attempted since 1931.

If Adams is removed, he would be replaced by ultra-progressive, Black Lives Matter activist Jumaane Williams, 48, who is currently the NYC Public Activist.

He would replace Adams temporarily, until there is a special election 80 days after the change of power, sparking fears among New Yorkers that things could go from bad to worse in the city.

If she chooses to do so, Hochul could suspend Adams for up to 30 days and then remove him ‘after service upon him of a copy of the charges and an opportunity to be heard in his defense.’

A similar scenario played out in 1931, when then-New York Gov. Franklin D. Roosevelt held two weeks of hearings into scandal-hit Mayor Jimmy Walker, who resigned the next year.

Hochul has so far remained quiet on Adams’ future, saying only that she she is ‘monitoring’ the situation.

She added through her spokesman Avi Small that it ‘would be premature to comment further until the matter is confirmed by law enforcement.’

Federal agents seized Eric Adams’ cellphone and were seen carrying backpacks and duffel bags following an early morning raid on his official residence.

Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro criticized the feds for sending ‘a dozen agents to pick up a phone whenw e would have happily turned it in.’

‘He has not been arrested and looks forward to his day in court,’ Spiro told ABC News.

As the raid unfolded around 6am at Adams’ Gracie Mansion in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, around a dozen agents were seen carrying duffel bags to from the property.

Eric Adams allegedly partied at one of his favorite Manhattan members clubs shortly after taping his response to a grand jury returning an indictment against him.

The NYC mayor, 64, reportedly filmed his response shortly before news of the indictment was first reported by The New York Times.

Gerson Borrero, a political commentator with NY1, said on X that he ‘was told that he then went to one of his regular clubs in Manhattan and was there for two hours.’

Adams has been known to enjoy a night out in the Big Apple during his tenure, with top haunts including Le Bain and Zero Bond among his favorites. It is not known where he allegedly partied on Wednesday night.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she was ‘monitoring’ the indictment against Adams but issued only a minor response to the historic move.

She said through her spokesman Avi Small that it ‘would be premature to comment further until the matter is confirmed by law enforcement.’

It comes as politicos warned Hochul to distance herself from Adams as he faces federal charges, with GOP strategist William O’Reilly saying: ‘I would tell the governor to begin airing her concern for what’s going on in New York.’

‘You have an administration that looks riddled with corruption, I mean riddled from the top down. And if the governor doesn’t get out ahead of it, she’s going to end up being behind the story and she’s gonna become part of the story,’ he told the New York Post.

Hochul notably has the power to remove Adams from office as he refuses to do so, however a governor has not made such a move in New York since 1931.

In the wake of the historic indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday night, the former NYPD chief is facing mounting calls to resign.

Leading the charge was Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who called for his resignation ‘for the good of the city’ before the indictment was even announced.

AOC cited the wide-ranging corruption investigation that has seen several top New York officials step down in recent weeks, which she said ‘are threatening government function.’

‘Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration,’ she said.

‘I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City.’

This line was echoed by Scott Stringer, the former NYC comptroller who is running against Adams in the Democratic mayoral primary next year.

‘There is simply zero chance that the wheels of government will move forward from this full steam ahead,’ Stringer said, feeling that Adams stepping aside would be ‘for the good of the city.’

‘We are left with a broken down train wreck of a municipal government.’

Another of Adams’ primary opponents, current NYC comptroller Brad Lander, said that Adams ‘deserves due process and the presumption of innocence’, but argued fighting the charges would make running the Big Apple impossible.

‘It is clear that defending himself against serious federal charges will require a significant amount of the time and attention needed to govern this great city,’ he said.

‘The most appropriate path forward is for him to step down so that New York City can get the full focus its leadership demands.’

New York City Mayor Eric Adams refused to resign and painted himself as the victim in a video released hours after a grand jury returned an indictment against him.

The mayor, 64, issued his response as he became the first New York City mayor to be charged criminally while still in office on Wednesday.

‘It is now my belief that the federal government is attempting charge me with crimes,’ the mayor said, saying that his stance on the migrant crisis made him a ‘target.’

‘For months, leaks, rumors, have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty,’ he went on.

‘Despite our pleas, the federal government did nothing as it’s broken immigration policies [and] overloaded our shelter system.

‘I put the people of New York before party and politics.’

He concluded: ‘You elected me to lead this city, and lead it I will… I humbly ask for your prayers and patience as we see this through. God bless you, and God bless the city of New York. Thank you.’

Federal agents descended on Mayor Eric Adams’ official residence early on Thursday morning, hours before prosecutors are expected to announce charges.

The 6am raid on the Adams’ Gracie Mansion, in Manhattan’s Upper East Side, saw a group of around a dozen agents enter the property with backpacks and duffel bags.

It came after a federal grand jury returned an indictment against Adams following a wide-ranging corruption investigation, however the exact charges agains the mayor are not yet clear.