New York City’s doomed Democrat Mayor Eric Adams has fired back after being indicted on federal criminal charges.
Adams is accusing the Biden-Harris administration of targeting him with a federal investigation because he has been speaking out against the federal government’s open border agenda.
The mayor claims he has been “defending” New Yorkers from the flood of illegal aliens that have landed in his “sanctuary” city after illegally crossing the open Southern Border.
As Slay News reported earlier, Adams was indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday night.
The indictment, filed by the US attorney’s office in Manhattan, was unsealed on Thursday.
It revealed that Adams has been charged with taking bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals.
According to the indictment, Adams “solicited and demanded” bribes, including free and heavily discounted luxury travel benefits from a Turkish official.
Adams is the first of New York City’s 110 mayors to be criminally charged while in office.
The home of the mayor, who said he does not plan to resign, was searched by FBI agents earlier on Thursday.
In a news conference held shortly after the indictment was unsealed, Adams asked people “to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments”.
“My day-to-day will not change,” he said.
“I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do.
“And the 300,000-plus employees of our city’s government will continue to do their jobs because this is what we do as New Yorkers.
“This is an unfortunate day, and it’s a painful day.
“But inside all of that is a day when we will finally reveal why, for 10 months, I’ve gone through this.
“And I look forward to defending myself.”
Adams had a duty to disclose the gifts he received.
However, year after year “kept the public in the dark,” Damian Williams, the US attorney for Manhattan, said at a news conference.
Adams faces a total of five criminal charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, and bribery.
The 57-page indictment from the US attorney’s office alleges there was a scheme dating back to 2014 where a Turkish official helped underwrite Adams’s mayoral campaign.
In return, prosecutors alleged the New York mayor would pressure officials to waive safety inspections and allow the Turkish government’s 36-story consulate to open in Manhattan.
Prosecutors allege that Adams “not only accepted but sought illegal campaign contributions” to his mayoral campaign.
A senior Turkish official also “facilitated many straw donations” to the Democrat mayor, the indictment states.
The same official also allegedly arranged free or discounted travel on Turkey’s national airline to destinations including France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkey for Adams and his companions.
The indictment alleged Mr Adams also “compounded his gains” from illegal contributions by gaming the city’s matching funds program.
The program provides matches for small-dollar donations.
It then adds the mayor allegedly “solicited and demanded” bribes, and is said to have created – and instructed others to create – fake paper trails to falsely suggest he had paid for free travel benefits.
A former New York police officer who spent 22 years in the force and rose to the rank of captain, Adams was elected as the city’s second black mayor in 2021.
Before this, he was a state senator and then served as Brooklyn borough president.
A spokesperson for New York’s Democrat Governor Kathy Hochul said in a statement Wednesday:
“Governor Hochul is aware of these concerning news reports and is monitoring the situation.
“It would be premature to comment further until the matter is confirmed by law enforcement.”
Hochul has the power to remove Adams from office.
In a defiant video statement recorded at his official residence, Adams addressed the charges head-on.
He confirmed that he is refusing to step down from his position.
The mayor vehemently denied the charges, calling them “entirely false” and “based on lies.”
He has portrayed himself as the target of a politically motivated witch hunt led by a weaponized federal government.
Adams accuses the Biden-Harris admin of retaliating against him for his outspoken criticism of Washington’s handling of immigration policies.
“My fellow New Yorkers,” Adams said.
“It is now my belief that the federal government intends to charge me with crimes.
“If so, these charges would be entirely false based on lies, but they would not be surprising.
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target and a target I became.
“For months, leaks and rumors have been aimed at me in an attempt to undermine my credibility and paint me as guilty.
“I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit.”
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