BREAKING: @nycmayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a grand jury on charges connected to a federal probe that has shaken... more
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Eric Adams becomes first sitting NYC mayor indicted in historic federal probe — claims feds persecuting him over migrant crisis
ByCraig McCarthy,
Ben Kochman and
Matt Troutman
Published Sep. 25, 2024, 9:10 p.m. ET
Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a grand jury on charges connected to a federal probe, sources told The Post — as the defiant mayor claimed he was being persecuted by the federal government for speaking about the city’s migrant crisis.
The historic indictment — the first for a sitting New York City mayor — is expected to be unsealed Thursday by US Attorney Damian Williams, according to the sources. The news was first reported by The New York Times.
Adams will surrender to authorities early next week, sources said.
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became,” Adams said in a statement to The Post.
“If I am charged, I am innocent, and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
In a video statement released later, Adams doubled down on comments he was being targeted.
“For months, leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty. Just this past week, they searched the home of our new police commissioner looking for documents from 20 years ago, just one week after he join my administration,” Adams said.
A rep for the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is prosecuting the case, declined to comment.
Sources close to Adams said late Wednesday that the mayor had not been told of the expected indictment.
Following news of the indictment, cops set up barriers outside Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s home, and forced reporters back from the house.
Details about the exact accusations remained unclear, but are believed to be connected to allegations of the Turkish government illegally funneling money into his mayoral campaign in exchange for approval of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan, according to sources.
It’s also uncertain how the indictment is related to a sweeping set of Sept. 4 raids that targeted several high-profile Adams administration officials, which sent City Hall into a weeks-long tailspin as news reports emerged of investigations focused on alleged corruption by the mayor’s inner circle.
By Wednesday morning, word had spread that a “senior” City Hall official soon would be indicted, sending staff into a panic throughout the day, insiders said.
3Mayor Eric Adams has repeatedly denied wrongdoing as he faced a federal investigation.REUTERS
Mayor Eric Adams indicted: Live updates after NYC mayor hit with indictment
The indictment’s unveiling will come after federal prosecutors recently demanded City Hall cough up all communications between the Adams administration, Turkey and five other foreign countries amid the long-running probe.
Adams’ 2021 campaign had previously been served with subpoenas for information on its campaign donations — specifically those that had ties to Turkey, sources told The Post.
Sprawling record requests then came in a July batch of subpoenas seeking details on all interactions between admin officials and Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan, the sources added.
3Adams’ top campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs also faces charges in the foreign influence case — one of several federal probes swirling around the mayor and his inner circle.serinc
Adams, City Hall and his election committee were also hit with grand jury subpoenas that same month — with the feds obtaining text messages, documents and other communications and materials.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York had remained tight-lipped about the probe ever since it burst into view last November with a dramatic raid on top Adams fundraiser Brianna Suggs’ Brooklyn home.
Follow the latest on the FBI raids of Adams administration officials:
- FBI raids NYC homes of two top Mayor Adams aides, Sheena Wright and Phil Banks
- Feds raid home of NYPD Commish Edward Caban, other close Adams allies
- Home of top NYC Mayor Eric Adams aide Winnie Greco raided by FBI: sources
- Additional FBI raids revealed in Eric Adams campaign fundraising probe
- Adams’ chief fundraiser raided by FBI over alleged kickback scheme involving Turkish government
The raid — which sought evidence of straw donor kickbacks by the Turkish government and the Williamsburg-based construction company KSK Construction Group into Adams’ mayoral campaign — prompted Hizzoner to scurry back from a much-publicized White House meeting on the migrant crisis.
The feds subsequently raided the homes of City Hall staffer Rana Abbasova and Cenk Ocal, a former Turkish Airlines executive who worked on Adams’ transition team.
3Now-former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban (center) and top Adams aide Tim Pearson (right) are targets of federal probe.Brigitte Stelzer
A week later, Adams had his own phones and iPad seized by FBI agents on the streets of Manhattan.
Meanwhile, another aide, Winnie Greco, had her Bronx home raided by FBI agents in February, though it wasn’t clear at the time whether it was tied to the Turkey probe.
Hizzoner has long denied any wrongdoing.
“It takes a great deal of discipline to not say something when you know you’ve done nothing wrong,” Adams said in August when asked about the mayoral campaign investigation.
The indictment marks the first time a New York City mayor has faced charges in 170 years, according to historical research done by THE CITY.
All recent mayors from David Dinkins to Bill de Blasio have faced some type of corruption investigation, but all those probes ended with, at worst, lower-level aides being slapped with charges.
Former Mayor Jimmy Walker famously resigned in 1932 while under investigation, but he was never charged.
The bombshell indictment will come amid a spate of other federal investigations targeting City Hall and Big Apple officials that came to light in a stunning series of raids on Hizzoner’s top lieutenants, closest political allies and most trusted aides of late.
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Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are behind many of the probes but — like the mayoral campaign investigation — have remained tight-lipped about the aims, potential charges and how the probes might entwine with each other.
No one, to date, has been charged or accused of any wrongdoing in the other investigations.
Additional reporting by Joe Marino
Every New Yorker knew this was coming. He likely went to certain members of his staff and inner circle and said something along the lines of : Will you stand with me even though these Federal charges are coming and so many abandoned ship over the past few months. It's mainly about lining his pockets and bribes. There were two top FDNY chiefs accused of accepting bribes. So much corruption but countdown to his resignation 3........2...1
God-Of-War-420
Mr. Pool
Attorneys from the Southern District of New York speak on charges against Mayor Eric Adams
No sex trafficking charges yet?
There was something I didn’t fully trust about him. Former NYCPD, former Republican. Now it’s adding up the corruption and protection of the “blue wall of silence” and the race to the bottom of most in the Republican Party, not surprised.
FOX 5 NY
5h ·"You hurt our schools. Our streets are dirty. Our children are [harassed] by the police," the heckler continued as Mayor Eric Adams defended his innocence.
LIVE UPDATES: https://www.fox5ny.com/.../nyc-mayor-adams-indicted-wont...
The Wildest Parts Of New York City Mayor Eric Adams' Federal Indictment
The city's mayor allegedly pressured the fire department to allow a building funded by the Turkish government to open despite flaws.
So where is the indictment for Clarence Thomas
The indictment paints a picture of a man who is comfortable accepting luxuries either for free or little cost, allegedly using fake paper trails and cash to conceal them, and performing various favors in return. It also accuses him of using a donation-matching program aimed at giving New Yorkers a stronger voice in local elections to steal some $10 million in public funds.
The indictment paints a picture of a man who is comfortable accepting luxuries either for free or little cost, allegedly using fake paper trails and cash to conceal them, and performing various favors in return. It also accuses him of using a donation-matching program aimed at giving New Yorkers a stronger voice in local elections to steal some $10 million in public funds.
New York Govenor Kathy Hochul released a statement Thursday night following the indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams on federal charges. READ MORE: bit.ly/3ZAqvl9
Another Black man who fell for the okey-doke that it's a level playing field. No matter how high you think you are, you can NEVER get away with the shit whitey does.
And turkiye? C'mon son. You know erdogan ain't shit and gonna line you up for the knife in the back.
And turkiye? C'mon son. You know erdogan ain't shit and gonna line you up for the knife in the back.
Metro
Dana Kennedy
Published Sep. 26, 2024, 5:27 p.m. ET
What did Turkey and its powerful, globetrotting president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan get in return for the thousands of dollars in luxury, first-class travel, other lavish perks allegedly funneled to embattled Mayor Eric Adams?
According to the historic, five-count indictment unsealed by Manhattan prosecutors Thursday, Erdoğan scored a glossy, 36-story glass and steel tower across from the United Nations called the Turkish House that soars over the NYC skyline and the East River — a consular showplace allegedly fast-tracked by Adams despite fire safety concerns.
“In Sept. 2021 [a Turkish official] told Eric Adams, the defendant, that it was his turn to repay the Turkish official by pressuring the New York City Fire Department to facilitate the opening of a new Turkish consular building — a 36-story skyscraper — without a fire inspection, in time for a high profile visit by Turkey’s president,” the indictment read.
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Mayor Adams speaking outside Gracie Mansion after he was hit with corruption charges on Sept. 26, 2024.Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
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Adams was allegedly given gifts from Turkey in exchange for fast-tracking the opening of the “Turkish House” in Manhattan.Facebook Turkish Consulate General in New York
“At the time, the building would have failed an FDNY inspection. In exchange for free travel and travel-related bribes in 2021 and 2022 arranged by the Turkish official, Adams did as instructed.
“Because of Adams’ pressure on the FDNY, the FDNY official responsible for the FDNY’s assessment of the skyscraper’s fire safety was told he would lose his job if he failed to acquiesce, and after Adams intervened, the skyscraper was opened as requested.”
In 2017, just after construction began on what is also called the Turkevi Center, Erdogan presided over a ceremony at the site with his wife and his foreign minister.
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Mayor-elect Adams meeting with Consul General Reyhan Özgür outside of Turkish House in 2021.X/Turkish Consulate in NY
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Adams receiving a tour of the new building.X/Turkish Consulate in NY
“This new building will be a place worthy of our growing and developing country whose reputation is increasing in every field,” Erdogan said at the ceremony, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
Turkevi House, he said, would symbolize a “space worthy of our country’s glory.”
It was for Erdogan’s glory as well, according to Sinan Ciddi, an expert on Turkish domestic politics and foreign policy at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
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Adams allegedly pressued the FDNY to get the Turkish House open without a fire inspection.X/Turkish Consulate in NY
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The 36-story building is right next to the United Nations building.X/Turkish Consulate in NY
“It was a total vanity project for Erdogan,” Ciddi told The Post Thursday. “There were all sorts of questions at the time about how they got those inspections done so quickly and now we know.
“For Erdogan it was a prestige thing – like look at what we manage to do even in NYC. He wanted a symbol of Turkey’s ascendancy in the world and he got it — and he got it when he wanted it.”
Perkins Eastman, the architectural firm that designed the building, calls it “a stunning addition to New York’s skyline [which] supports the Republic of Turkey’s US operations.”
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Adams at the Turkish House in 2023.
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Adams speaking at the Turkish House.
The facade is curved in a homage to the crescent on the Turkish flag and the top of Turkish House is shaped like a tulip, the national flower of Turkey.
A 2021 report about the fire alarm system by the Dept. of Buildings viewed by The Post Thursday indicated a list of fire safety issues had still not been fixed to bring the building up to code.
A spokeswoman for the FDNY emailed The Post Thursday and said the fire alarm system in the building was approved in March 2023 but did not provide further details other than to say the building was “safe.”
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US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams speaking about the corruption charges against Mayor Adams on Sept. 26, 2024.AFP via Getty Images
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Federal agents removing documents from Gracie Mansion during a raid on Sept. 26, 2024.Robert Miller
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A graphic showing accommodations Mayor Eric Adams took advantage of such as flights, and hotel arrangements worth up to $123,000.
A source familiar with the building’s construction told The Post that in 2021 he believed “there were significant problems with that building.”
Turkish House includes a passport and visa branch office, public areas, conference rooms, a multi-purpose prayer room, and auditorium as well as some residential units.
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Turkish officials regularly hold diplomatic meetings in the building. Last September Erdogan invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Turkish House.
Turkish House was reportedly built by the Turkish billionaire Enver Yucel, a construction tycoon who doubles as the head of BAU Global, the umbrella education network which founded Bay Atlantic and Bahcesehir universities.
Among the Turks that seemed to directly benefit from Adams was former Turkish Airlines executive Cenk Ocal. He was ultimately named to Adams’ transition team after he became mayor in 2022 and Ocal eventually became Adams’ official liaison to the Turkish community.
Last November, on the same day the feds raided the house of Adams’ top fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, they also raided the homes of City Hall staffer Rana Abbasova, director of protocol in the Office for International Affairs, as well as Ocal’s home. Ocal was not named in the indictment against Adams.
Inside the Turkish tower in NYC at the center of Mayor Eric Adams’ indictment
ByDana Kennedy
Published Sep. 26, 2024, 5:27 p.m. ET
What did Turkey and its powerful, globetrotting president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan get in return for the thousands of dollars in luxury, first-class travel, other lavish perks allegedly funneled to embattled Mayor Eric Adams?
According to the historic, five-count indictment unsealed by Manhattan prosecutors Thursday, Erdoğan scored a glossy, 36-story glass and steel tower across from the United Nations called the Turkish House that soars over the NYC skyline and the East River — a consular showplace allegedly fast-tracked by Adams despite fire safety concerns.
“In Sept. 2021 [a Turkish official] told Eric Adams, the defendant, that it was his turn to repay the Turkish official by pressuring the New York City Fire Department to facilitate the opening of a new Turkish consular building — a 36-story skyscraper — without a fire inspection, in time for a high profile visit by Turkey’s president,” the indictment read.
11Mayor Adams speaking outside Gracie Mansion after he was hit with corruption charges on Sept. 26, 2024.Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/POOL/AFP via Getty Images
11Adams was allegedly given gifts from Turkey in exchange for fast-tracking the opening of the “Turkish House” in Manhattan.Facebook Turkish Consulate General in New York
“At the time, the building would have failed an FDNY inspection. In exchange for free travel and travel-related bribes in 2021 and 2022 arranged by the Turkish official, Adams did as instructed.
“Because of Adams’ pressure on the FDNY, the FDNY official responsible for the FDNY’s assessment of the skyscraper’s fire safety was told he would lose his job if he failed to acquiesce, and after Adams intervened, the skyscraper was opened as requested.”
In 2017, just after construction began on what is also called the Turkevi Center, Erdogan presided over a ceremony at the site with his wife and his foreign minister.
11Mayor-elect Adams meeting with Consul General Reyhan Özgür outside of Turkish House in 2021.X/Turkish Consulate in NY
11Adams receiving a tour of the new building.X/Turkish Consulate in NY
“This new building will be a place worthy of our growing and developing country whose reputation is increasing in every field,” Erdogan said at the ceremony, according to Turkey’s state-run Anadolu news agency.
Turkevi House, he said, would symbolize a “space worthy of our country’s glory.”
Stay updated with the New York Post’s coverage of Mayor Eric Adams’ indictment
- Suited-up feds search Gracie Mansion after Adams becomes first indicted NYC mayor
- Adams’ indictment could open the door for these potential 2025 challengers
- Adams’ top campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs, close aide Winnie Greco expected to be named in bombshell indictment
- Adams is first NYC mayor to be indicted in office but others resigned under probe
It was for Erdogan’s glory as well, according to Sinan Ciddi, an expert on Turkish domestic politics and foreign policy at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
11Adams allegedly pressued the FDNY to get the Turkish House open without a fire inspection.X/Turkish Consulate in NY
11The 36-story building is right next to the United Nations building.X/Turkish Consulate in NY
“It was a total vanity project for Erdogan,” Ciddi told The Post Thursday. “There were all sorts of questions at the time about how they got those inspections done so quickly and now we know.
“For Erdogan it was a prestige thing – like look at what we manage to do even in NYC. He wanted a symbol of Turkey’s ascendancy in the world and he got it — and he got it when he wanted it.”
Perkins Eastman, the architectural firm that designed the building, calls it “a stunning addition to New York’s skyline [which] supports the Republic of Turkey’s US operations.”
11Adams at the Turkish House in 2023.
11Adams speaking at the Turkish House.
The facade is curved in a homage to the crescent on the Turkish flag and the top of Turkish House is shaped like a tulip, the national flower of Turkey.
A 2021 report about the fire alarm system by the Dept. of Buildings viewed by The Post Thursday indicated a list of fire safety issues had still not been fixed to bring the building up to code.
A spokeswoman for the FDNY emailed The Post Thursday and said the fire alarm system in the building was approved in March 2023 but did not provide further details other than to say the building was “safe.”
11US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams speaking about the corruption charges against Mayor Adams on Sept. 26, 2024.AFP via Getty Images
11Federal agents removing documents from Gracie Mansion during a raid on Sept. 26, 2024.Robert Miller
11A graphic showing accommodations Mayor Eric Adams took advantage of such as flights, and hotel arrangements worth up to $123,000.
A source familiar with the building’s construction told The Post that in 2021 he believed “there were significant problems with that building.”
Turkish House includes a passport and visa branch office, public areas, conference rooms, a multi-purpose prayer room, and auditorium as well as some residential units.
262
What do you think? Post a comment.
Turkish officials regularly hold diplomatic meetings in the building. Last September Erdogan invited Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Turkish House.
Turkish House was reportedly built by the Turkish billionaire Enver Yucel, a construction tycoon who doubles as the head of BAU Global, the umbrella education network which founded Bay Atlantic and Bahcesehir universities.
Among the Turks that seemed to directly benefit from Adams was former Turkish Airlines executive Cenk Ocal. He was ultimately named to Adams’ transition team after he became mayor in 2022 and Ocal eventually became Adams’ official liaison to the Turkish community.
Last November, on the same day the feds raided the house of Adams’ top fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, they also raided the homes of City Hall staffer Rana Abbasova, director of protocol in the Office for International Affairs, as well as Ocal’s home. Ocal was not named in the indictment against Adams.
This is stupid shit.. Feds just mad because who ever is calling the shots is MAD
Eric Adams spoke out too much about migrants running rampant in nyc.. he shut
a lot of that shit down....and the foreign faggot feds are making him pay,
they want to flood America with foreigners, so they can enlist them in the military,
and use them to fight Americans they KNOW American Soldiers are not going to follow
orders to Kill fellow Americans.... so they are slowly trying to build a foreign Military...
and Leaders like Eric Adams... is not allowing it,
Unlike the faggot pussy leaders of other blue states, allowing migrants to come in and take over shit,
they start with building bases and taking shit from the poor.. then they work their way up....
Any fuckin foreign military WILL GET FUCKIN SQUASHED in a United America,
thats why so much effort is put in keeping us divided.. The only one trying
to Keep America for Americans is Trump..
ALL DEMOCRATS THAT ARE NOT SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE BORDERS BEING WIDE OPEN ARE THE ENEMY....
Eric Adams IS A TRUE AMERICAN LEADER
SO FUCKIN WHAT HE FLEW FIRST CLASS.. HE IS THE FUCKIN MAYOR OF NEW YORK.. DA FUCK HE IS SUPPOSED TO FLY COACH...??
Why arent they arresting the muthafucka giving billions of dollars of our MILITARY equipment A FUCKIN WAY,
so that shit could be USED AGAINST US.. WHAA DA FUCK?????
LEAVE ERIC ADAMS ALONE
AND GET THE MUTHAFUCKAS GIVING BILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLAR PAID FOR MILITARY EQUIPMENT AWAY...
WHY IS THE 9 ton PIG being ignored to focus on the horses running, na Let the horses RUN and
Kill that FUCKIN PIG!!!
FREE ERIC
STOP THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FROM ALLOWING ANYBODY INTO THIS COUNTRY,
THATS THE REAL CRIME!!!
Eric Adams spoke out too much about migrants running rampant in nyc.. he shut
a lot of that shit down....and the foreign faggot feds are making him pay,
they want to flood America with foreigners, so they can enlist them in the military,
and use them to fight Americans they KNOW American Soldiers are not going to follow
orders to Kill fellow Americans.... so they are slowly trying to build a foreign Military...
and Leaders like Eric Adams... is not allowing it,
Unlike the faggot pussy leaders of other blue states, allowing migrants to come in and take over shit,
they start with building bases and taking shit from the poor.. then they work their way up....
Any fuckin foreign military WILL GET FUCKIN SQUASHED in a United America,
thats why so much effort is put in keeping us divided.. The only one trying
to Keep America for Americans is Trump..
ALL DEMOCRATS THAT ARE NOT SPEAKING OUT ABOUT THE BORDERS BEING WIDE OPEN ARE THE ENEMY....
Eric Adams IS A TRUE AMERICAN LEADER
SO FUCKIN WHAT HE FLEW FIRST CLASS.. HE IS THE FUCKIN MAYOR OF NEW YORK.. DA FUCK HE IS SUPPOSED TO FLY COACH...??
Why arent they arresting the muthafucka giving billions of dollars of our MILITARY equipment A FUCKIN WAY,
so that shit could be USED AGAINST US.. WHAA DA FUCK?????
LEAVE ERIC ADAMS ALONE
AND GET THE MUTHAFUCKAS GIVING BILLIONS OF OUR TAX DOLLAR PAID FOR MILITARY EQUIPMENT AWAY...
WHY IS THE 9 ton PIG being ignored to focus on the horses running, na Let the horses RUN and
Kill that FUCKIN PIG!!!
FREE ERIC
STOP THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY FROM ALLOWING ANYBODY INTO THIS COUNTRY,
THATS THE REAL CRIME!!!