@cspanofficial: New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) was indicted on five federal charges of bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. “As the indictment alleges, Mayor Adams engaged in a long-running conspiracy in which he solicited and knowingly accepted illegal campaign contributions from foreign donors and corporations,” Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a press conference Thursday. “Mayor Adams took these contributions even though he knew they were illegal and even though he knew these contributions were attempts by a Turkish government official and Turkish businessmen to buy influence from him.” Prosecutors allege the mayor sought and accepted well over $100,000 in luxury travel benefits, including free international business class flights and “opulent” hotel rooms in foreign cities. “The mayor had a duty to disclose these gifts on his annual disclosure forms so that the public could see who was giving him what. But as we allege, year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark. He told the public he received no gifts even though he was secretly being showered with them,” Mr. Williams said. Mr. Williams said that in exchange for the improper benefits, the mayor intervened in the New York City Fire Department’s inspection process for a building owned and operated by the Turkish government, allowing it to open despite not having passed a fire inspection. “The conduct alleged in the indictment — the foreign money, the corporate money, the bribery, the years of concealment — is a grave breach of the public trust,” Mr. Williams said. “Public office is a privilege. We allege that Mayor Adams abused that privilege and broke the law — laws that are designed to ensure that officials like him serve the people, not the highest bidder, not a foreign bidder, and certainly not a foreign power.” #ericadams #newyorkcity #sdny #cspan

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Thursday 26 September 2024 18:10:14 GMT