New York Mayor Eric Adams expected to face federal charges

New York Mayor Eric Adams is expected to face federal charges by prosecutors out of the Southern District of New York as soon as Thursday, two sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday night.

CNBC earlier reported that Adams has been indicted, and the indictment is sealed.

The charges were not immediately clear. Spokespeople for the FBI and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.

In a statement released Wednesday night, Adams said: “I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became. If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”

The Adams administration was already reeling from a series of high-level resignations amid at least four federal probes. 

Adams, 64, a former NYPD captain and Brooklyn borough president, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. 

One of the investigations is believed to be focused on whether Adams’ mayoral campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources. As part of that probe, the FBI last year searched a home in Brooklyn belonging to Adams’ chief fundraiser. 

Federal investigators have also been looking into whether Adams pressured the city’s fire commissioner to approve a new building housing the Turkish Consulate despite safety concerns. 

Adams was still Brooklyn’s borough president when, shortly after he won the Democratic mayoral primary in 2021, he reached out to then-Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro, according to sources familiar with the matter. Adams encouraged Nigro to evaluate a request from the Turkish government to use the building, which had not yet opened because fire department officials had refused to sign off on the safety of its occupancy.

Adams’ phones were seized as part of the inquiry, and FBI agents have questioned Nigro as a witness at least twice, sources familiar with the matter have told NBC News. (Nigro has declined to comment.)

Federal investigators this month searched homes and seized phones belonging to multiple top officials close to Adams. Police Commissioner Edward Caban, who was among those whose phone was seized, resigned on Sept. 12. 

Authorities also seized the phone of Caban’s twin brother, James Caban, a former police officer who owns a nightclub security business. Federal investigators are looking into whether bars and clubs in midtown Manhattan and Queens paid James Caban to act as a police liaison and whether those clubs were then afforded special treatment by local precincts, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The Adams administration also faces a public corruption investigation and another federal probe that led to a search of homes belonging to Adams’ former director of Asian affairs.  

Before news of federal charges broke Wednesday, Adams was at a reception at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which President Joe Biden also attended. Adams also appeared on local television to take questions live from New York viewers.

The expected indictment leaves the city government in a dire predicament, said Douglas Muzzio, a longtime Baruch College political science professor who retired last year.

“Who’s in charge? What is the policy direction?” Muzzio said. “With so many people having already resigned, city agencies are, in a sense, rudderless.”

Earlier Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called for Adams to resign.

“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City,” Ocasio-Cortez said on X. “The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration. For the good of the city, he should resign.”

City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is running for mayor, also urged Adams to step down.

“Mayor Adams, like all New Yorkers, deserves due process, the presumption of innocence, and his day in court,” Lander said on X. “However, it is clear that defending himself against serious federal charges will require a significant amount of the time and attention needed to govern this great city. The most appropriate path forward is for him to step down so that New York City can get the full focus its leadership demands.”

But in a videotaped statement he released late Wednesday, Adams resisted the calls for him to resign, saying any charges against him would be “entirely false, based on lies.”

“Make no mistake,” Adams added, “you elected me to lead this city and lead it I will.”