Eric Adams Indicted

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In half an hour, Damian Williams will announce the indictment of Eric Adams on charges relating to funding from Turkey.

While the indictment is extensive — 49 pages of narrative — it appears to address just the Turkish side of the scheme, with five charges:

  • Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, bribery, and solicitation of foreign donation
  • Wire fraud
  • Foreign Donation
  • Foreign Donation
  • Bribery

The scheme started in 2015.

In 2015, ERIC ADAMS, the defendant, took two official trips to Turkey. His first trip, in August 2015, was arranged by the Turkish Consulate General in New York City (the “Turkish Consulate”) and paid for in part by the Turkish Consulate and in pa1t by a for-profit educational conglomerate based in Istanbul (the “Turkish University”). The second trip, in December 2015, was arranged by the Turkish Official and a Turkish entrepreneur (the “Promoter”) whose business includes organizing events to introduce Turkish corporations and businesspeople to politicians, celebrities, and others whose influence may benefit the corporations an businesspeople, For both trips, ADAMS received free business class tickets on the Turkish Airline. Unlike ADAMS ‘s subsequent travel with the Turkish Airline, ADAMS reported his 2015 travel to Turkey on financial disclosure forms filed with the New York City Conflict of Interest Board (the “COIB”), as he was required to do annually at all times relevant to this Indictment.

There’s no FARA component here, though it does describe Turkey demanding his help getting approval to open Turkish House.

On or about September 5, 2021, the Turkish Official began asking ADAMS, both directly and through the Adams Staffer, to intervene with the Commissioner of the FDNY (the “FDNY Commissioner”) in order to secure a TCO for the Turkish House. ADAMS, the Turkish Official, and the Adams Staffer discussed these requests through phone calls and electronic messages. In a phone call to the Adams Staffer, the Turkish Official stated that because Turkey had supported ADAMS, it was now “his tum” to support Turkey. The Adams Staffer relayed this message to ADAMS, and ADAMS responded, “I know.

One paragraph describes how, after they came for Adams’ phones last year, he changed his password and then “forgot it.”

On November 6, 2023, FBI agents executed a search warrant for the electronic devices used by ERIC ADAMS, the defendant. Although ADAMS was carrying several electronic devices, including two cellphones, he was not carrying his personal cellphone, which is the device he used to communicate about the conduct described in this indictment. 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 [sic], 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.

It’s not going to take the FBI very long to break a 6-digit password, you bozo.

I predict Williams will say this investigation is ongoing and the time for anyone with information to share “is now.”

Update: Williams: “This investigation continues, … and I encourage anyone with information to come forward and do so before it’s too late.”

Nailed it!!

Notably: when describing the danger of illegal donations, Williams built a hierarch: illegal, foreign, foreign power. The use of “foreign power” suggests he could add FARA or Foreign Agent charges pretty easily.
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89 replies
  2. Ravenclaw says:

    Whenever anyone says (or writes) that the Justice Department under Joe Biden has been “weaponized” against Trump or Republicans generally, simply reply “Yes, that must be why they’ve investigated and prosecuted a prominent Democratic U.S. Senator and the Democratic mayor of America’s largest city. Oh, and his own son, of course.” Might actually shut them up for ten minutes.

    • Bears7485 says:

      “Might actually shut them up for ten minutes.”

      Doubt it. They’ll claim that those guys are just fall guys to distract from the “real” crimes Biden’s DOJ is covering up. There is no bottom.

      • SteveBev says:

        And eg that “the prosecution of these Dems merely scrapes the surface of the deep pit of corruption, that is so vast that even the Dems can’t turn a blind eye to all of it” or some such

      • Harry Eagar says:

        Apparently, the Combs prosecution was brought to distract from Harris’s economic program . . . or something.

    • Matt Foley says:

      Check out Glenn Kirschner’s statement to Gym Jordan yesterday about how Project 2025 will weaponize the DOJ with pro-Trump puppets. As usual Gym pretended not to know anything about it.

  3. Amateur Lawyer At Work says:

    Trying to process what Erdogan and/or the Turkish side was thinking. This was pretty sloppy on their part.

    Trying to process what Adams was thinking as well. He wasn’t elected mayor because of general acclaim and love: he was the rightmost candidate amongst the Democrats, so he had a ‘hold-your-nose’ base among Republicans and “registered Independents [who watch FOX News]” but not much else.

    • dannyboy says:

      “he was the rightmost candidate amongst the Democrats, so he had a ‘hold-your-nose’ base among Republicans and “registered Independents [who watch FOX News]” but not much else.”

      Not many votes to be had here from “Republicans and ‘registered Independents [who watch FOX News]’”

      He’s a Black, ex-cop. Folks here wanted that because, even though statistics showed us as a safe big-city, we’re kinda’ edgy, which, at the time, got misinterpreted as crime-ridden.

    • Frank Anon says:

      Turkish House isn’t just some consulate building, its a 100,000 square foot tower that probably cost hundreds of millions to put together, and whose development started as Adams was getting started on his run. Turkey probably just pushed a few chips across the table to a willing stooge to help grease the wheels for City approvals. I don’t see any deep state issues

        • Amateur Lawyer At Work says:

          Rayne and Frank,
          A project of that scope and scale is “too big to fail” for the reasons that Adams is charged with “greasing palms”. Unless the fire safety issues are/were so severe to require a tear-down and rebuild, Erdogan can steal a nibble from the EU or the Kurds or whomever to get it fixed. Now, it’s a front-page issue and things escalate in attention and cost so much more than the fix would have been worth.

        • vigetnovus says:

          Hmmm indeed. 40K square feet of residential space, with apartments averaging 2000 sq feet each, those are some big apartments in a high rent district.. I wonder who the lucky 20 are that get to live there?

          And since it’s owned by Turkey and houses their diplomatic mission, I assume it’s completely off limits to law enforcement too? Would be a great place to put up foreign agents (of Turkey or otherwise) such that the FBI couldn’t use conventional law enforcement tactics to keep abreast of what they are up to. And does a consulate really need 102,000 square feet of office space? Seems like a lot. And what of the unaccounted for 78K sq feet that isn’t residential (if my math is correct)? What’s in there?

          Finally, I’ll note the wikipedia article mentions that it is *directly across the street* from the UN Headquarters. With 35 floors of visibility and sight lines to the Secretariat building, that’s some prime real estate. Oh, and they’re next door to our good friends, the Saudis. I’m sure that’s coincidental.

        • Peterr says:

          This is not small, but it is not out of line with the sizes of other consulates in NYC. Some is residential for the chargé and other high ranking consulate officers, and then there is both public-facing and restricted office space (think “offices to meet with folks seeking visas” and “offices for processing visa applications”), as well as entertaining spaces for various occasions (“Your presence is requested for a celebration of our national founding day”) as well as conference rooms and other meeting spaces. Finally, of course, there are the highly restricted communications areas, so that the diplomats and spooks can communicate with each other and the folks back home.

          All in all, the size is not out of the ordinary.

          See BI for more: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-most-expensive-consulates-in-new-york-city-2012-6

        • posaune says:

          Good to remember that NYC has its very own, much more demanding building code. DoB does not rely on the UBC at all.

      • harpie says:

        https://www.nytimes.com/live/2024/09/26/nyregion/eric-adams-indicted-news#f575c9bd-eda8-562a-ad4a-cfbed67ce827
        Sept. 26, 2024, 4:38 p.m. ET

        Liz Krueger, a New York state senator who represents Midtown Manhattan, home to the Turkish government building at the center of the charges against Adams, called for an inspection of the structure on Thursday.

        “The F.D.N.Y. and Department of Buildings should do an immediate inspection of the Turkish consular building, which was never properly inspected based on the Federal indictment papers,” she said. “It is 36 stories tall and people’s lives may be at risk.”

        • Peterr says:

          That strikes me as a statement for political publicity.

          It’s one thing to inspect a consulate building once it is built but before the foreign country takes possession. It’s quite another, from a diplomatic point of view, to inspect it once it has been occupied, because that’s the point at which it becomes immune from all kinds of host country inspections and demands.

          And if we play fast and loose with diplomatic immunity for this consulate, I’d hate to be in charge of the US diplomatic facilities in Turkey or elsewhere in the world. Our diplomats and facilities are only as respected by other governments around the world as we respect theirs here in the US.

        • dannyboy says:

          A glass panel broke off the façade and fell ten stories, and around the same time, the FDNY rejected its first fire safety plan. In 2021, just three days before Erdogan was scheduled to speak at the building, a consultant reported that the building had serious issues with the sprinklers, elevators, smoke detectors, fans, and other elements that would need to function in the event of a fire. Adams did them a great “favor”.

      • dannyboy says:

        Owned by Turken Foundation (Pres Erdogan’s son). Mayor DeBlasio was involved in it. Tudor City sued. It’s a Turkish dormitory. I don’t know how this will be affected. It’s at completion stage.

    • SteveinMA says:

      Adams was nominated (the Dem in NYC was going to win) in a ranked choice primary with 13 candidates. He was the first choice of just 31% or so, and after 9 other candidates were eliminated, he still only got <32% of the votes. His two main rivals' totals exceeded his total in the first 7 rounds, with over 50% and 60% in rounds 6 and 7, respectively, with Adams getting 35 and 41% in those two round. Only after Maya Wiley (who was in second place for the first 6 rounds, BTW) fell into third in round 7, there were just two candidates, Adams and Kathryn Garcia. Round 8 gave Adams the win by less than 1 % (50.4 to 49.6%). A true landslide :)

      • freebird says:

        This was another case of internecine liberal infighting that ended up with the most conservative candidate winning. Adams went on to disparage the city which allowed Zeldin to focus on particular NYC crimes and almost gave Zeldin the governorship.

  5. vigetnovus says:

    Interesting that Adams first has contacts with Turkey in the summer and fall of 2015. Gee, who else do we know from New York who started meeting with various foreign dignitaries around the same time?

    Also interesting that he was in the NY State Senate around the time that Stone was blackmailing folks. And that he was Brooklyn borough president when Trump was running.

  7. Ewan Woodsend says:

    O/T, sorry but open threads are rarer (or is everything open thread?). I hoped the readership of EW could shed some lights. I just read a column of David French in NYT, about a woman (Erma Wilson) who was convicted in a case where the prosecutor was also the judge’s clerk, but was denied damages by the Fifth circuit court of appeal, out of what he calls a made up rule https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/26/opinion/texas-erma-wilson-marcellus-williams.html.
    Is this a 5th circuit thing, or is that how it would have fared elsewhere too?

    • Just Some Guy says:

      “It’s a [Fifth Circuit] thing, you wouldn’t understand” seems like it’d be a popular bumper sticker among NOLA-based Jeep-driving appellate attorneys.

  8. Peterr says:

    Nailed it!!

    In other news, dog bites man.

    My question is did you call it, or did a Williams staffer read this and say “Hey boss, this would be a good idea.”?

    • emptywheel says:

      No no. I was basing it on his actions in Menendez, and also that he said something similar the other day, “If you know of corruption, come in now while the getting is good.”

  10. SunZoomSpark says:

    Jack Smith has filed the DoJ sealed brief re J6.
    Redacted brief to be filed later.
    Perhaps redactions to be approved by Judge Chutkan?

  11. SteveinMA says:

    Adams was nominated (the Dem in NYC was going to win) in a ranked choice primary with 13 candidates. He was the first choice of just 31% or so, and after 9 other candidates were eliminated, he still only got <32% of the votes. His two main rivals' totals exceeded his total in the first 7 rounds, with over 50% and 60% in rounds 6 and 7, respectively, with Adams getting 35 and 41% in those two round. Only after Maya Wiley (who was in second place for the first 6 rounds, BTW) fell into third in round 7, there were just two candidates, Adams and Kathryn Garcia. Round 8 gave Adams the win by less than 1 % (50.4 to 49.6%). A true landslide :)

    [Moderator’s note: This appears to be a duplicate comment in the same thread. I can’t delete it because someone replied to it before I caught it. Please pay attention to when/where you post to avoid duplicates. /~Rayne]

    • dimmsdale says:

      Thanks for the reminder. I voted for Wiley, was resigned to Adams, thinking “how bad could he be,” never reckoning that someone who managed to become the mayor of New York City would be so cheaply, slimily, enthusiastically, nakedly corrupt. I recently read a comment somewhere about Adams, suggesting that because he operated for years in a police culture where there were absolutely no consequences for even the scummiest misbehavior on cops’ parts, he figured he could get away with anything. I hope that (IF found guilty) he gets sent away for a good long time.

  13. CaptainCondorcet says:

    As I’ve noted before, I keep tabs on discussion boards connected to the alt right. Painful at times, but helpful to know what nonsense I’m likely to eventually see in some of my circles. Current tinfoil hat special is that this indictment is actually STRONGER proof of DoJ weaponization given the mayor’s recent harsher stance on immigration. Friendly plug to support your local voter mobilization efforts, as clearly there is no hope for a nontrivial percentage of our electorate.

  15. synergies says:

    Nauseating. The idea that Erdogan a stench mouthpiece for terrorists had Adams, the mayor of NYC i.e. 911 for god’s sake swimming in that stench is reprehensible. Backstabbing the first responders? Nauseating!
    I’m 73, remembering that Turkey was considered to join the EU on the promise that they would invest in, thereby grow the Middle East to worldwide values. I hope this puts an end to their long stalled application because the only thing Erdogan has done is fucked over the Middle East turning it into a war zone. Erdogan is not EU material.
    Of course Eric Adams via Jan 6 is not going to resign. Kathy Hochul should kick him out as fast as possible, letting him fester in worry about his approaching prison sentence.

    • dannyboy says:

      I’m 76, so we have the same frame of time reference.

      If you need to find a rhyme in NYC history go back to Guliani.
      My colleagues died on 9/11 because of his corruption.

      • xyxyxyxy says:

        Please explain how your “colleagues died on 9/11 because of his corruption.”
        The only corruption I recall by him around 9/11 was apartment rentals for 1st responders that were used for sex.

        • Just Some Guy says:

          WAG: probably referring to the inane decision in 1999 to move NYC’s Office of Emergency Management at Metrotech, Downtown Brooklyn to WTC 7, which collapsed on 9/11.

        • dannyboy says:

          xyxyxyxy,

          Just Some Guy provided a well-informed comment. When the Emergency Management Center was moved, THE RESERVES OF FUEL WERE MOVED WITH IT TO LOWER LEVEL WTC7. That exploded and my building was across the street on Barclay.

        • xyxyxyxy says:

          re-dannyboy September 27, 2024 at 2:34 pm
          What?, reserves of fuel storage within a small area where there are tens of thousands of people?
          But of course there are gas stations that are in fairly dense population areas.

        • Just Some Guy says:

          Reply to xyxyxyxy
          September 27, 2024 at 3:53 pm
          “re-dannyboy September 27, 2024 at 2:34 pm
          What?, reserves of fuel storage within a small area where there are tens of thousands of people?
          But of course there are gas stations that are in fairly dense population areas.”

          I take it you’ve never been to NYC. Lower Manhattan is not known for having gas stations.

          In fact, currently the closest one to the WTC site is at 13th and 8th Avenue, ie. not close at all.

          There used to be one at Broadway and Houston but still, not close.

      • synergies says:

        Tears. Born & raised in the West Coast. I’m low income. Still happy. I’ve never even been to New York City but you’ve always been a sister city to L.A. Always been tons of NYC people here.
        I’ll never forget or forgive the way they treated first responders. You’ll always have a prayer in memory from me & like minded, we the people. Understood.
        Thank You : )

        • dannyboy says:

          xyxyxy,

          Gas stations are not terrorist targets.

          WTC garage had been the target of terrorist bombing with a car, just a few years earlier.

          I kinda’ remember because I had to convince the Chairman of my bank that we needed to prepare for another terrorist attack and spent years in preparations, “just in case”. The only variable that I was unable to predict was Guliani’s actions.

        • synergies says:

          Dannyboy, Just Some Guy,
          Learn something every day. Wow just Wow. I remember the “WTC garage had been the target of terrorist bombing with a car…” The emergency fuel was moved to the WTC garage? ! The insanity. Now obvious in the broken mental shells both Guliani & TFG are today. Part of the explanation.
          TY

        • dannyboy says:

          synergies,

          Worse yet, the fuel reserve was moved to World Trade Center Building 7. When it exploded, the building came down and fragments hit my building. I worked on the Recovery and the restoration. Nothing was said. But even the terrorists couldn’t imagine destroying ALL of the WTC buildings by targeting WTC 1& WTC 2. Only Guliani could do that.

  16. Savage Librarian says:

    Pie in the Eye

    Some Mayor, poser to gain dough
    A wise guy
    Turkey handed: we’ve heard of
    reasons to say goodbye

    Some Mayor, poser to gain dough
    Lied right through
    all the schemes that he dared to scheme
    Will he do time too

    Today we wish him gone afar
    to shake up all the clowns who are
    behind him
    Where troubles dwell like gremlin flops
    Away beyond the gimme cops
    where someone can mind him

    Some Mayor, poser to gain dough
    Bad guy, bye
    Goodbye, poser to gain dough
    Bye, then pie in the eye

    You grabby little bad guy, bye
    You wronged to gain dough
    So, pie in the eye

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k75jGOO-JlU

    “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”

  17. xyxyxyxy says:

    re-dannyboy September 27, 2024 at 5:24 pm
    Why would removing Adams not be a very good look for the Governor?
    What consequences would she encounter?

    • dannyboy says:

      Start with he’s Black. Then that he has just recently been indicted. Then count up the number of indications of support that he’s received.

      It’s complicated here.

  19. xyxyxyxy says:

    re dannyboy September 28, 2024 at 2:01 pm
    Are you saying the fuel reserve under World Trade Center Building 7 exploded?
    If you don’t mind me asking how did you end up working on the Recovery and the restoration.

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