I'd like to give a shout-out to NY, Chicago, Houston, and LA just a few cities that are taking advantage of Diversity in their administrations. Ergo Black mayors who don't look after the economic interest or safety of their minority populations that ironically place them in office. With friends like that who needs enemies?
Having competent Black municipal leadership is an admirable objective. Too frequestnly many of our largest cities get folks like Adams, who are race hustlers carved out of the crooked legacy of people like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams Indicted on Federal Charges
Charges are expected to become public Thursday
By Corinne Ramey, James Fanelli and Sadie Gurman, WSJ
Updated Sept. 25, 2024 10:48 pm ET
The Democrat has been dogged by a series of probes involving his associates. Federal prosecutors are expected to announce details of the case on Thursday. Photo: Seth Wenig/Associated Press
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal criminal charges, according to people familiar with the matter, marking a stunning blow to the leader of the nation’s largest city.
It couldn’t immediately be learned what charges Adams is facing. Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are expected to announce details of the case on Thursday, the people said.
The mayor said in a video statement Wednesday night that any charges would be based on lies. “If I am charged, I know I am innocent. I will request an immediate trial so that New Yorkers can hear the truth,” he said.
Adams indicated he had no plans to resign. “Make no mistake: You elected me to lead this city—and lead it I will,” he said.
A spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment. The New York Times earlier reported the charges.
Adams, a Democrat, has been dogged by a series of probes involving his associates. Within the past several weeks, Adams’s police commissioner, schools chancellor, health commissioner and chief counsel have all either resigned or announced their plans to step down. Federal agents earlier this month searched homes of several top administration officials. Investigators last year seized Adams’s electronic devices and searched the home of a fundraiser for his campaign.
One of the investigations has examined whether foreign money, including from Turkey, was funneled into Adams’s campaign through illegal donations.
Adams, a former New York Police Department officer, took office in 2022 and has been gearing up for a re-election campaign in 2025, where he faces challenges in the primary from several other Democrats. He ran as a centrist in 2021, pledging to tackle crime in New York, citing a law-enforcement background that spanned more than 20 years.
Since taking office, the mayor hasn’t shied away from his ties to people who had past run-ins with the law. He has proudly described his mentoring of a bishop with a rap sheet and openly partied with two restaurateurs who were each convicted of a felony. His deputy mayor for public safety, Philip Banks, was an unindicted co-conspirator in a prior federal corruption probe.
Adams has defended those in his orbit, saying he is giving people second chances.
At the same time, his campaign and administration have been swept up in corruption cases big and small. Several donors have been charged in schemes involving illegal political donations. Last year the city’s former Department of Buildings commissioner was charged in state court with taking bribes in exchange for using his position to provide favors to associates.
Earlier this year, federal prosecutors charged 70 current and former New York City public housing employees with accepting illicit payments in exchange for awarding work to contractors.
Last week, two former New York City fire chiefs were charged with accepting tens of thousands of dollars in bribes in exchange for expediting safety inspections.
The string of resignations and clouds of legal uncertainty have raised questions about whether Adams has any remaining ability to manage the city’s needs. He has sought to play down such concerns.
“This city government is a deep bench, and we have a reservoir of talent,” Adams said this week.
Previous mayors have faced investigations. But the magnitude of the probes embroiling Adams hasn’t been seen since the 1980s, when Mayor Ed Koch, a Democrat, saw his third term in office marred by corruption scandals involving one of his commissioners and local political party bosses. Koch wasn’t accused of wrongdoing.
Left-leaning groups and officials on Wednesday called for the mayor to step down, including some of the mayor’s Democratic challengers and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. “I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City,” she said earlier in the day.
If Adams quits, the city’s public advocate, Jumaane Williams, would serve as acting mayor until an election is held.
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