New York City mayor Eric Adams has pleaded not guilty on charges related to his alleged acceptance of bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources.
Adams, the first New York City mayor to face criminal charges, entered his plea during an arraignment at a federal courthouse in lower Manhattan on Friday, where he had surrendered to authorities earlier in the day.
Adams faces five counts, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery, and to receive campaign contributions by foreign nationals; wire fraud; solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national in two instances; and bribery.
A 57-page indictment accuses Adams of accepting “improper valuable benefits,” including free airline flights and luxurious hotel stays from Turkish business and government officials who sought to influence him. Some of the foreign funds Adams received benefited his 2021 mayoral campaign, but some of the alleged bribery dates back to 2015 when he was the Brooklyn borough president.
Adams received flights valued at more than $100,000 to locations including Turkey, India, France, Sri Lanka, China and Hungary from 2015 to 2019.
During his time as mayor, the Turkish government sought Adams’s help to open a new consulate building in the city before the country’s president visited in 2021, the indictment alleges. Without Adams’s help, the 36-story skyscraper would have failed a fire inspection at the time.
Adams has repeatedly insisted on his innocence since news of the indictment broke Wednesday night.
“We are not surprised. We expected this,” he said during a news conference outside his residence on Thursday. “The actions that have unfolded over the last ten months — the leaks, the commentary, the demonizing. This did not surprise us that we reached this day, and I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments.”
In the lead up to the release of the Adams indictment, several members of his administration had resigned, including the police commissioner, schools chancellor, and chief legal counsel.
Adams’s has thus far rebuffed calls for his own resignation. Before the indictment was even released this week, Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) called for the mayor to step down.
“The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening government function,” the progressive “Squad” member said. “Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration.”
“For the good of the city,” she added, “he should resign.”
After the indictment was made public, several other lawmakers called for Adams’s resignation, including city comptroller Brad Lander, councilman Shekar Krishnan, New York state senator John Liu, and New York State assemblywoman Emily Gallagher.
Asked Thursday if he believes Adams should resign, President Biden said, “I don’t know.”