Federal prosecutors indicted New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday, The New York Times reports, casting doubt on the moderate Democrat’s future as chief executive of the country’s largest city.
The indictment is still sealed so the nature of the charges is not yet known, according to the Times.
The U.S. Department of Justice had been investigating whether Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign received illegal foreign donations from the Turkish government. The probe came into public view in November, when federal agents first seized the electronic devices of an Adams campaign aide in charge of fundraising, and then Adams’ own phones.
A series of additional scandals have since consumed Adams’ mayoralty. Federal prosecutors investigated top Adams administration officials for charges that include alleged bribery and shakedown schemes. The steady drip of federal raids and rumored indictments has spurred the resignation of a host of top officials. In the past two weeks alone, Adams’ schools chancellor, health commissioner, police commissioner and City Hall attorney have all left.
A former female colleague of Adams’ while he was in the New York Police Department is also suing him for sexual assault she says he perpetrated in 1993.
As Adams’ troubles have mounted, he has maintained that he is laser-focused on running the city, which has been dealing with continued affordability challenges for residents and the integration of more than 210,000 asylum seekers who have arrived since 2022.
But there is already a growing field of Democrats challenging Adams in the mayoral primary in June 2025, including state Sens. Zellnor Myrie and Jessica Ramos, city Comptroller Brad Lander and former Comptroller Scott Stringer.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, perhaps the most influential progressive in New York City, called for Adams to resign on Wednesday.
“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City,” she posted on X, citing the “flood” of investigations and resignations.
