Feds search Mayor Adams' residence after he vows to fight charges in sprawling federal probe
Sept. 25, 2024, 9:57 p.m.
It's the first time in New York City history that a sitting mayor has been indicted for a federal crime.
Mayor Eric Adams said he's being charged with a series of federal crimes and vowed to fight what he said were unjust accusations.
Federal officials searched Gracie Mansion, the mayoral residence, early Thursday, according to law enforcement officials. Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro said “a dozen” federal agents arrived to seize the mayor’s phone. The park surrounding the mayor’s home was closed as of about 7:15 a.m, though police officers opened barricades to allow a handful of black SUVs with tinted windows to enter the grounds.
The indictment against the mayor could be unsealed as early as Thursday morning, but the charges against him remain unclear. The development follows months of speculation over a corruption investigation that has loomed over the mayor since FBI agents seized his digital devices and searched his aides’ homes last year. The news of the indictment was first reported by The New York Times.
In a video Spiro sent, the mayor says that he may soon be charged with federal crimes. He calls any such charges "entirely false based on lies.”
City Hall officials did not respond to numerous requests for comment Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
In the two-and-a-half minute video, Adams called himself a “target.”
“Enough,” he said, “I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength.”
The mayor criticized the federal government in the video for, he said, doing nothing about “a broken immigration system” that overloaded the city’s shelter system. He also turned down calls for him to resign.
A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment. Federal law enforcement officials declined to comment as well.
Adams now becomes the first mayor in modern New York City history to be charged with a federal crime while in office. The charges represent a stunning downfall for Adams, a retired NYPD captain who once cast himself as a national model for Democrats. He made law and order central to his mayoralty.
Brendan McGuire, another lawyer for Adams, did not respond to a request for comment.
Adams can continue to serve as mayor, but Gov. Kathy Hochul could elect to remove him from office. Should he stay on, he will be forced to defend himself against a federal indictment while battling historically low approval ratings and an already crowded field of Democrats vying to replace him after one term.
Three of his primary challengers — Comptroller Brad Lander, State Senator Zellnor Myrie and former Comptroller Scott Stringer — have all called on him to resign. State Senator Jessica Ramos, the fourth challenger, stopped short of demanding he step aside in a statement Wednesday night.
A host of other elected officials across the political spectrum have also urged the mayor to step down.
State Senator John Liu, a Queens Democrat who ran a progressive campaign for mayor in 2013, said New Yorkers “need a mayor who is able to devote full time and full energy to putting the city on the right track.”
“Mayor Adams is simply unable to do that for the foreseeable future,” he added.
Councilmember Bob Holden, a conservative Queens Democrat, also called on Adams to quit.
“While he is presumed innocent until proven guilty, there is no way he can effectively lead with this cloud hanging over him,” Holden said. “With the challenges our city faces, he must step down for the good of New Yorkers.”
The indictment caps an investigation that broke into public view in early November of last year with a series of FBI raids that sent shockwaves through the city’s political community.
Federal authorities also issued a flurry of search warrants and subpoenas over recent weeks. Agents seized the phones of NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, Schools Chancellor David Banks, his partner first deputy mayor Sheena Wright and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks.
Those searches were followed by a wave of high-profile departures, including Caban and the city’s chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg. The schools chancellor announced Tuesday that he would resign at the end of the year.
Bahar Ostadan and David Brand contributed reporting.
This is a developing story and will be updated throughout the day.
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