NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ Federal Indictment Is US Attorney Damian Williams’ Latest High Profile Case

New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends the annual German American Steuben Parade on September 21, 2024, on 5th Avenue in New York City.  | Source: Andrew Lichtenstein / Getty

UPDATED: 11:00 a.m. ET with contents of unsealed indictment

The criminal federal indictment against embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams has placed a spotlight not only on his alleged corruption but also on U.S. Attorney Damian Williams , the federal prosecutor who oversees the Southern District of New York, one of the three agencies that are reportedly involved in the investigation.

The indictment was unveiled on Thursday morning and revealed the nature of the charges that Adams — the city’s second-ever Black mayor and its first in more than 30 years — faces following investigations that have spanned more than three years.

Adams is facing “five federal charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations that prosecutors said began when he was a top elected official in Brooklyn and continued after he became mayor,” the New York Times reported .

More from the New York Times:

Federal prosecutors said that Mr. Adams “sought and accepted improper valuable benefits” since at least 2014, when he was then the Brooklyn borough president, according to the indictment . The benefits included luxury international travel — free and discounted airline tickets to Turkey and free meals and hotel rooms while there — from wealthy foreigners and at least one Turkish government official, prosecutors said.

Mr. Adams tried to hide the gifts or make them appear as if he had paid for them, according to the indictment, and also deleted messages to cover his actions. The gifts were valued at tens of thousands of dollars, prosecutors said.

In exchange for the perks, Mr. Adams as mayor pressured officials at the New York Fire Department to open a new Turkish consular building in Manhattan despite fire inspection issues. A Fire Department official who was overseeing the building’s fire safety assessment said he was told he would lose his job if he did not follow the mayor’s order.

Adams said Wednesday night before learning the exact charges that he would fight them because he is innocent.

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

But if Williams’ track record is any indication, particularly the cases he’s prosecuted against high-profile individuals, chances are that Adams may find himself even farther on the wrong side of history.

It had already been reported that Adams was being investigated for possibly conspiring with Turkey to receive donations from the foreign nation, which would be a violation of U.S. campaign finance laws. Adams may have received other improper benefits from Turkey, which stood to benefit from a state-of-the-art Turkish consulate building in New York City. Among those alleged benefits are what the New York Times described as “valuable flight upgrades they believe the mayor received from Turkish Airlines.”

The investigations have notably included the Feds confiscating electronic devices from Adams and several of his staffers, two of whom had their homes raided. Multiple others in Adams’ administration have since resigned. However, it would appear that he is the only person in his administration who is facing an indictment after Adams — a former longtime NYPD police officer who also served as Brooklyn’s borough president — was subpoenaed by the feds in August .

Adams, who retired from the NYPD following a 22-year career in law enforcement, is decidedly pro-police and has even supported such controversial policies like stop and frisk . His indictment this week is the result of a joint investigation from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), the FBI and the city’s Department of Investigation (DOI).

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams speaks to the media outside of Manhattan federal court on July 16, 2024, in New York City. | Source: Adam Gray / Getty

The involvement of the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York marks U.S. Attorney Damian Williams’ latest case involving a high-profile and powerful Black man.

Just last week, his office arrested disgraced hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in a sprawling indictment alleging sex trafficking in what appears to be an ironclad case bolstered by credible witnesses willing to testify against him.

Williams said at the time that the investigation against Diddy “is far from over,” something that is likely also the case for Adams.

Lest we forget that Williams successfully prosecuted R. Kelly. In that instance, Williams secured convictions for racketeering and sex trafficking , resulting in the disgraced singer being sentenced to 20 years in federal prison, with one year to run consecutive to the 30-year sentence previously imposed in the Eastern District of New York.

Kelly was convicted in 2021, the same year that Williams was nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the United States Senate.

The following year, Williams and his office began investigating another New York City politician, then-Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin , for alleged campaign finance violations. William alleged in a subsequent indictment that Benjamin “used his power as a New York state senator to secure a state-funded grant in exchange for contributions to his own political campaigns.”

Notably, that investigation was conducted alongside the FBI and DOI, the two agencies that are working with Williams’ SDNY on Adams’ case.

Benjamin quickly resigned after the federal wire fraud and bribery charges were unveiled. He has maintained his innocence and the case remains pending.

Before his role as United States Attorney, Williams served as Chief of the Securities and Commodities Fraud Task Force for SDNY. The Brooklyn-bred Jamaican attorney earned degrees from the University of Cambridge, Harvard University and Yale Law School.

Aside from prosecuting high-profile Black men, William has also successfully brought charges against other high-profile individuals, including now-former New Jersey U.S. Sen. Robert Melendez and his wife in a bribery scheme for which he was convicted in July.

Williams’ SDNY also in 2022 charged FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried with “multiple fraudulent schemes” for which he was convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison .

And last year, Williams’ office announced its intentions to investigate “the ongoing risk of harm to both incarcerated individuals and Department of Correction (DOC) Staff” at Rikers Island, New York City’s notorious jail.

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