(AFP) – New York’s scandal-plagued Mayor Eric Adams arrived in court Friday where he was due to answer multiple fraud and bribery charges that have shocked the city. Adams was charged following a sweeping probe, with prosecutors accusing him of wire fraud, soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations, and bribery conspiracy. The allegations prompted calls for his resignation, but Adams has remained defiant, saying he was looking “forward to defending myself.”
Accompanied by aides, the 64-year-old mayor walked into the federal courthouse in Manhattan on Friday morning. He made no comments to waiting reporters but gave a thumbs-up. Presenting the charges on Thursday, US District Attorney Damian Williams said the mayor was “secretly being showered” with gifts for years. “The conduct alleged in the indictment — the foreign money, the corporate money, the years of concealment — is a grave breach of the public’s trust,” Williams told journalists.
The 57-page document accuses the mayor of the most populous US city of crimes going back a decade, when Adams took office as Brooklyn’s borough president. According to the charges, he accepted luxury international flights, hotel suites, and free high-end restaurant meals, including from at least one Turkish government official in return for favors. In one example, prosecutors say Adams pressured the city’s fire department to approve Turkey’s new high-rise consulate in Manhattan despite safety concerns.
Scandal has swirled around Adams for months, with several high-ranking allies resigning as others were indicted or raided by federal agents. Adams, the second Black mayor in the city’s history, won the 2021 Democratic primary vowing to reduce crime, which did fall after rising during the Covid pandemic. But the city of 8.5 million people faces a housing crisis that has seen rents skyrocket. Adams is up for reelection next year.
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