Eric Adams, the man who proclaimed himself as NYC’s “first hip-hop mayor,” was indicted Thursday on federal charges. He is alleged to have taken bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources.
Elected as mayor in 2021, Adams, a former police officer, has seen his approval rating plunge to the lowest any NYC mayor has received in over a quarter of a century. Multiple factors have contributed to this: his handling of issues like homelessness and the city’s budget; allegations of sexual misconduct; and his support of harmful practices like stop-and-frisk.
Now, surely the charges against Adams will only add to his lackluster job as mayor. But what are the details of the accusations, how much prison time could he face if convicted and does he intend on resigning?
Here’s a breakdown of all that and more.
So, what are the charges Adams is facing?
Adams faces: one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, solicit foreign contributions and accept bribes; one count of wire fraud; one count of bribery; and two counts of solicitation.
The charges primarily stem from allegations that Adams took illegal contributions and bribes from Turkish businessmen and officials who wanted to exert influence on him.
According to Adams’ indictment, he committed over 20 “overt acts,” including accepting free flights and hotel rooms, as well as coordinating straw donations — a scheme where someone illegally uses another person’s money to make a political contribution in their own name — that spans nearly a decade.
“Adams sought and accepted improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him,” the indictment alleges.
“As Adams’ prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City’s mayor,” the indictment states elsewhere.
Adams has denied any wrongdoing.
How much prison time could he face if convicted?
In all, Adams faces 45 years for the charges, with the most severe being the wire fraud. That charge, which stems from allegations that he stole from NYC’s matching funds program — which “provides public funds to candidates for city office,” according to the New York City Campaign Finance Board (NYCCFB) — carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. According to the indictment, the matching funds program doesn’t allow straw donations. As the NYCCFB notes, the program requires candidates to “certify agreement to and demonstrate compliance with the requirements of the Act and Board Rules.”
Does Adams intend to resign?
No.
Adams said the following after his indictment was unsealed on Thursday: “I look forward to defending myself and defending the people of this city as I’ve done throughout my entire professional career.”
With that said, the NYC Charter has two different ways Adams could be forced to resign, according to The New York Times. The first would be through a process that allows Gov. Kathy Hochul to remove him. The second would be through a “committee on mayoral inability,” where a five-member committee — including the city’s corporation counsel and comptroller, as well as a deputy mayor chosen by the mayor — would decide to remove him.
As an expert noted to the Times, the second method has never been used.
Among notable people who’ve called for Adams to resign include Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who, in a statement to the Times, said that Adams needed to resign “for the good of the city.”
And how has hip-hop responded to all of this?
As a self-proclaimed “hip-hop mayor,” how have NYC’s hip-hop figures responded to the news?
So far, it seems only 50 Cent has offered his thoughts on the news, mocking (unsurprisingly) Adams in a post on Instagram.
Sharing a video of Adams giving now-disgraced music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs the key to the city, the rapper captioned the clip with the following: “This shit is getting crazy out here! Do you want a docuseries on Eric Adams? I want to know what the f**k is going on here.”
50 is currently producing a docuseries about the allegations Diddy is facing.
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