US media reported on Wednesday that they had indicted New York Mayor Eric Adams on federal criminal charges, following numerous investigations into alleged corruption within his administration and the resignations of top officials.
The New York Times and other sources report that Adams is now the first sitting mayor of New York to face criminal charges, despite the unclear nature of the specific charges included in the sealed indictment.
The US district court in Manhattan is currently handling three of the at least four federal investigations into the Democratic former police officer, which focus on prominent members of the mayor’s inner circle and his administration.
Adams declared himself “innocent” in a statement on Wednesday, saying, “I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers, that I would be a target—and a target I became.”
“If charged, I am innocent, and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit,” he declared.
US media, citing sources with knowledge of the case, expects federal prosecutors to release the indictment’s details on Thursday.
The prosecutor’s office declined to comment when AFP contacted it.
Throughout the investigations, Adams, who is running for reelection in 2025, has maintained a façade of normalcy.
A prominent national figure publicly urged the 64-year-old mayor to step down after leading the largest city in the United States for the first time in public. Earlier in the day, US House Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called on the mayor to resign “for the good of the city.”.
“The flood of resignations and vacancies is threatening government function,” she added. “Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration.”
Just forty days before Kamala Harris, the Republican, and Donald Trump, the Democrat, square off for the US presidency, the indictment also runs the risk of embarrassing Democrats.
Doug Muzzio, a New York political analyst, told AFP that Adams couldn’t “walk away from all the activity” surrounding him in recent weeks.
On a national level, Republicans can now assert that Democrats “run the largest US city, and there are reasons to believe that there is widespread corruption,” he continued.
