New York is a massive metropolis, and being the mayor comes with a lot of power and influence. Unfortunately, Mayor Eric Adams supposedly succumbed to the temptations of his powerful position and used it to unjustly enrich himself at the expense of New Yorkers everywhere. On September 26, 2024, Adams was officially indicted for numerous alleged federal crimes.
Adams is accused of federal crimes of bribery, wire fraud, solicitation of contributions from foreign nationals, and conspiracy. The charges stem from numerous gifts, campaign donations, and other supposed bribes Adams and his team accepted in exchange for political favors. This is a major abuse of authority, and the consequences may be significant. He is already mounting a defense and recently filed a motion to dismiss the counts of bribery. While the case is still in the early stages, possible defense strategies for Adams might involve poking holes in the evidence or claiming due process violations if his rights are at any point infringed upon.
If you are faced with criminal charges, call our criminal defense lawyers at the Law Offices of John J. Zarych at (609) 616-4956 for a free case assessment.
What is New York Mayor Eric Adams Accused of Doing?
The case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams is a deeply complex one, and it began nearly a decade ago in 2014, when Eric Adams was the Brooklyn Borough President. Since then, Adams has been accused of accepting lavish gifts and donations from wealthy foreign businesspeople, including at least one Turkish government official. By bestowing Adams with these gifts, these people gained favorable treatment from the mayor at the cost of his constituents. These numerous and substantial donations occurred over many years of Adams’ political career in New York.
What is perhaps most striking about the gifts and donations – which many are calling bribes – is that they came from foreign contributors from Turkey. The money and gifts from overseas contributors often came through straw donors, or seemingly legitimate donors who falsely certified the contributions were from their own money. This way, Adams and his contributors attempted to hide the gifts and donations.
In New York City, public funds may supplement campaign contributions from small donors. The City may match donations, sometimes up to eight times their value, as a way of amplifying the voices of New York City residents. Eric Adams and those working for him abused this system and obtained additional campaign donations from public funds based on fraudulent donations from foreign contributors. Essentially, not only did Adams accept illegal donations and bribes, but he allegedly defrauded the City out of money, too.
Adams is also accused of using his position as mayor to “repay” those who made donations, including the Turkish government official. One example is how Adams pressured the New York City Fire Department (FDNY) into opening the Turkish government’s new consular building in New York City without a fire inspection. The opening of the consular building coincided with a visit from the President of Turkey. Not only is this a breach of protocol, but it puts the citizens of New York at risk.
Federal Charges in the Indictment Against New York City Mayor Eric Adams
The federal indictment in Eric Adams’ case, which was recently unsealed, contains a lengthy list of federal crimes. The charges are largely wrapped up in Adams allegedly accepting money, gifts, and bribes in exchange for political favors. What makes these actions more shocking is that Adams was allegedly doing favors for a Turkish government official.
Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud, Federal Program Bribery, and to Receive Campaign Contributions by Foreign Nationals
The first count of the indictment is conspiracy. Conspiracy charges apply in cases when defendants are believed to have planned to commit crimes together. The act of planning with others is a key aspect of conspiracy charges. In the case of Eric Adams, he is charged with conspiring to commit the many federal crimes mentioned above, including wire fraud, bribery, and receiving fraudulent campaign contributions from foreign nationals.
Conspiracy charges might sound like a rehashing of the crimes themselves, but they are more than that. Conspiracy is the act of planning and preparing the crimes. Even if the crimes were never carried out, a defendant might still face charges if they agreed to commit a crime and took significant steps and overt acts toward completing their plans. A significant part of being charged with conspiracy is taking overt acts to carry out the plans. In Adams’ case, the federal indictment lists specific overt acts occurring from 2016 up until late 2023. Many overt acts include receiving air travel and luxury hotel accommodations and communicating about campaign contributions directly with foreign nationals.
Wire Fraud
Adams is also charged with wire fraud. Essentially, wire fraud involves using wire, radio, television, and other electronic communications to steal money, property, or services. Today, wire fraud is recognized to include more modern forms of communication, including texts, emails, and other digital communications.
At the heart of the wire fraud charges are the funds that were fraudulently obtained from the funds matching program from the City. Adams and his team used the program to match campaign funds from straw donors that really came from foreign nationals. In short, Adams is accused of using electronic communications to arrange for the misappropriation of public funds to fuel his political campaign.
Solicitation of a Contribution by a Foreign National
Adams has also been charged with two counts of solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national. Specifically, this is in reference to the fraudulent campaign contributions made to Adams by Turkish officials. There are numerous restrictions on where politicians in the United States may receive campaign contributions and donations, and accepting contributions from foreign sources is a major violation. The indictment lists two counts of such solicitations for contributions amounting to more than $25,000 in a calendar year. It also lists allegations that they funneled the campaign contributions through legal donors even though they knew the original sources were foreign.
Remember, the investigation into Eric Adams is still underway. As more evidence comes to light, we might see additional counts if Adams is discovered to have accepted more money and contributions from foreign nationals.
Bribery
In addition to campaign donations, Adams also allegedly accepted numerous lavish “gifts,” primarily from Turkish officials. These gifts included air travel to different countries and luxury accommodations at hotels for free or steeply reduced prices. These gifts were allegedly made with the intent that Adams would offer favors in the future, which he is believed to have done. As mentioned, Adams pressured officials from the FDNY to allow the new Turkish consular building to open without a proper fire inspection ahead of a high-profile visit from the president of Turkey.
How Can Eric Adams Defend Himself Against These Federal Charges?
Adams has already entered a plea of not guilty, and his legal team seems poised to claim that much of his allegedly unlawful conduct was actually part of his routine duties as mayor. In fact, his team has already filed a motion to dismiss the bribery count. Adams’ attorney has even claimed that Adams instructed his staffers not to accept foreign money. Whether this tactic works for Adams remains to be seen.
Evidentiary Arguments
While the case is still in the early stages of development, some are making predictions about how Eric Adams might try to defend himself. One possibility is that Adams’ legal team will argue over the timing of the alleged offenses. Many offenses date back many years, and some occurred before Adams was elected to the mayor’s office. This detail might be a bit of a wrinkle in the federal prosecutor’s case. However, Adams has been in New York City politics for some time. Whether or not he was in the mayor’s office, he allegedly used political power and influence to commit fraud and accept bribes, which might be enough to justify the charges.
Another strategy is to challenge the case on evidentiary grounds. It appears that the federal authorities already have a lot of evidence, with many of the alleged offenses being easily traced back to Adams. While it is possible that Adams might argue that a lack of evidence would make it impossible to secure a conviction, this seems unlikely to succeed, at least at this point.
Violations of Adams’ Rights
Instead, Adams might argue that much evidence was seized in violation of his rights. Even a mayor or other government officials have legal rights that investigators cannot infringe upon. According to an article published by ABC News, Eric Adams and several members of his team have been investigated, including having their homes searched. If any of these searches were illegal, the evidence might be thrown out, and the case against Adams might weaken. While federal investigators tend to be very careful about how they obtain search warrants, mistakes occasionally happen.
Politically Motivated Accusations
It might also be worth considering how Adams might use his status as mayor to build his defense. It is not unheard of for politicians in hot water to claim that the accusations against them are politically motivated. Although no such claims have been made about Adams, it might not be too surprising if he argues that the allegations are false or at least inflated, and that the real motivation for the investigation is to force him out of office. This defense is a bit unlikely, but stranger things happen every day.
Contact Our Criminal Defense Lawyers if You Are Facing Criminal Accusations
If you are faced with criminal charges, call our New Jersey criminal defense lawyers at the Law Offices of John J. Zarych at (609) 616-4956 for a free case assessment.
