Here Are the 5 Funniest Stories From the Indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has always been a uniquely amusing public figure, so it should come as no surprise that federal prosecutors’ 57-page indictment of Adams for his role in campaign finance and foreign influence schemes includes some entertaining anecdotes.

To set the stage: Adams is accused of accepting campaign contributions, as well as various gifts, from Turkish individuals and entities in exchange for access and preferential treatment. In particular, Adams benefitted from luxurious trips on Turkish Airlines as well as campaign contributions which were then matched by the city government.

Adams allegedly repaid the Turks in 2021 by pressuring the New York City Fire Department to allow a new Turkish consular building to be opened without a fire inspection, which the building would have failed. Not great.

Here are the stories compiled by prosecutors that should at least make you chuckle at this allegedly very serious breach of the public’s trust.

ADAMS SURPRISED STAFFER BY GIVING GO-AHEAD

In 2018, a Turkish entrepreneur — referred to in the indictment as “the Promoter” spoke with one of Adams’s staffers about a scheme to funnel money from the Turk to the Adams campaign. While the staffer was skeptical of it, suggesting that it could “cause a big stink later on,” Adams surprised him by giving the go-ahead.

Here’s how the indictment describes the events that led to the foreign influence scandal:

The Adams Staffer and the Promoter discussed by text message a possible trip by ADAMS to Turkey. The Promoter stated, in part, “Fund Raising in Turkey is not legal, but I think I can raise money for your campaign off the record.” The Adams Staffer inquired, “How will [ADAMS] declare that money here?” The Promoter responded, “He won’t declare it … Or … We’ll make the donation through an American citizen in the U.S …. A Turk … I’ll give cash to him in Turkey … Or I’ll send it to an American … He will make a donation to you.”

The Adams Staffer replied, “I think he wouldn’t get involved in such games. They might cause a big stink later on,” but “I’ll ask anyways.” The Adams Staffer then asked, “how much do you think would come from you? $?” The Promoter responded, ”Max $100K.” The Adams Staffer wrote, “l 00K? Do you have a chance to transfer that here? … We can’t do it while Eric is in Turkey,” to which the Promoter replied, ”Let’s think.” After this conversation, the Adams Staffer asked ADAMS whether the Adams Staffer should pursue the unlawful foreign contributions offered by the Promoter, and contrary to the Adams Staffer’s expectations, ADAMS directed that the Adams Staffer pursue the Promoter’s illegal scheme.

“ALWAYS DO”

The mayor, who explained at a Thursday morning press conference that “everyone that knows me knows I follow campaign rules and I follow the law,” nevertheless agreed with a staffer that their communications about benefits he allegedly received from the Turkish government should be for their eyes only.

From the indictment:

ERIC ADAMS, the defendant, continued to conceal the benefits he received from foreign nationals seeking to gain influence over him. ADAMS did not report any of the 2019 gifts
he received from the Airline Manager or the Promoter on his annual disclosure form. In addition, in March 2019, while exchanging text messages to plan another possible to trip to Turkey in which the Airline Manager would arrange travel for ADAMS, the Adams Staffer texted ADAMS, “To be o[n the] safe side Please Delete all messages you send me.” ADAMS responded, “Always do.”

“LET IT BE SOMEWHAT REAL”

In 2021, Adams was planning a trip to Istanbul. Initially, Turkish Airlines’ general manager in New York City offered Adams a price of $50 per ticket for two business tickets that would have cost anyone else a combined $15,000.

Adams’s staffer objected on the grounds that they would have no plausible deniability.

“I am going to charge $50,” the Turkish Airlines executive told the staffer.

“No, dear. $50? What? Quote a proper price,” replied the manager.

When the manager asked how much he should charge, the staffer answered, “His every step is being watched right now. $1,000 or so. Let it be somewhat real. We don’t want them to say he is flying for free. At the moment, the media’s attention is on Eric.”

“SUPER” 8 — JUST KIDDING, IT WAS THE FOUR SEASONS

Adams’s staffer asked the Turkish Airlines manager where else he could go in Turkey, to which the manager replied “Four Seasons.” When the staffer balked at the suggestion, arguing that the luxury hotel chain was “too expensive,” the manager asked why Adams would “care.”

“He is not going to pay. His name will not be on anything either,” he reminded Adams’s staffer, who called the arrangement “super.”

Here are more details from the planned trip:

The Turkish Official also arranged an itinerary for ADAMS and Adams’s Partner in Turkey, which, in addition to the stay at the Four Seasons, would include a yacht tour, a three-day stay at a luxury beach resort, and a car and driver, as well as a domestic flight between Istanbul and the resort. The Adams Staffer fo1warded details of this itinerary to ADAMS. To assist ADAMS in concealing the nature and extent of the travel benefits he was soliciting and accepting, the Turkish Official suggested a nominal price of approximately $720, although the true price of this itinerary would in fact have been approximately $8,500 or more. ADAMS approved the itinerary and the nominal price.

Adams informed the Turks that he was canceling the trip on the day it was supposed to start, and he was refunded for everything he had actually paid for.

PASSWORD ROULETTE

On November 6 of last year, FBI agents presented Adams with a search warrant for his electronic devices, but did not have his personal cell phone on his person. Here’s how things proceeded from there:

When ADAMS produced his personal cellphone the next day in response to a subpoena, it was “locked,” such that the device required a password to open. ADAMS claimed that after he learned about the investigation into his conduct, he changed the password on November 5, 2024, and increased the complexity of his password from four digits to six. ADAMS had done this, he claimed, to prevent members of his staff from inadvertently or intentionally deleting the contents of his phone because, according to ADAMS, he wished to preserve the contents of his phone due to the investigation. But, ADAMS further claimed, he had forgotten the password he had just set, and thus was unable
to provide the FBI with a password that would unlock the phone

BONUS: “SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS A CRACK PIPE”

This isn’t from the indictment, but one must take any and every opportunity to share this clip in which Adams instructs parents on how to search for nefarious items their children might be hiding and utters the immortal line: “Something as simple as a crack pipe.”