Chronology of Alleged Federal Corruption Charges Faced by New York City Mayor Eric Adams
Mayor Adams, who's been in office since January 2022 as the city's 110th leader, is under scrutiny for receiving luxurious travels and perks from a Turkish official. In return, it's alleged that he pressured New York City's Fire Department to skip a fire inspection before allowing a Turkish consular building to open, as per a 57-page federal indictment unveiled on Thursday.
The accusations date back to Adams' tenure as Brooklyn Borough president, spanning over a decade.
The indictment details 23 acts of misconduct, occurring between 2016 and October 2023. These acts include coordinating fake donations and submitting deceitful financial disclosures to the New York City Campaign Finance Board.
At a Thursday press conference, Adams stated, "I look forward to defending myself and the people of this city, as I've always done during my entire professional career."
Here's a chronological breakdown of the indictment's claims against Adams:
October 2016 - October 2017
After traveling to Turkey in 2015 and establishing illicit connections, a senior Turkish diplomatic official introduced Adams to a top executive from a Turkish airline operating in the New York City area, according to the indictment.
On three consecutive trips - once in 2016 and twice the next year - the indictment claims Adams solicited and accepted free or heavily discounted travel from the airline as part of the Turkish Official's quest for influence.
October 2016: Adams accepted a free upgrade to business class for himself and his partner, increasing their ticket costs to around $15,000, before their trip to India on a Turkish airline.
Before the upgrade, Adams' partner had bought economy tickets for the trip, valued at approximately $2,286.
July and August 2017: Adams accepted business class tickets valued over $35,000 from the airline, covering trips to Nice, France; Istanbul, Turkey; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Beijing, China, for himself, a close relative, and an aide.
Adams also enjoyed a heavily discounted stay at the St. Regis Istanbul hotel during the trip, a five-star property owned by a wealthy Turkish businesswoman who had frequently offered Adams complimentary or discounted luxury hotel stays and contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign.
Adams' bill for his two-night stay in the hotel's Bentley Suite was less than $600, compared to the actual approximate cost of $7,000, according to the indictment.
October 2017: Adams and his aide, who accompanied him on the July and August 2017 trip and served as his liaison to New York City's Asian-American communities, traveled to Nepal via Istanbul and Beijing.
Adams allegedly accepted business class tickets valued over $16,000 for himself and the aide for flights between New York, Istanbul, and Beijing, as well as the return flights.
Federal investigators claim Adams attempted to mask the luxurious travel benefits he received. According to the indictment, Adams "attempted to create a false documentation trail suggesting he had paid for his 2017 flights on the Turkish Airline, when in fact he had not."
January 2018 - December 2020
January 2018: Months before a January 2018 trip to Budapest, Hungary, via Istanbul, Adams' partner bought economy tickets for herself and Adams on a Turkish airline, worth approximately $1,120 each, the indictment alleges.
In December 2017, Adams apparently instructed an aide to ask the airline manager to upgrade the tickets to business class.
The upgrade was provided free of charge, and the tickets were valued at over $14,000, the indictment claims. The indictment accuses Adams of failing to disclose the travel discount to New York City's Conflict of Interest Board in 2018.
November 2018: During Adams' stint as Brooklyn Borough president, he and a staff member met in Brooklyn Borough Hall with a wealthy Turkish national—named in the indictment as "Businessman-1"—who owned a for-profit Turkish University, according to federal authorities.
Businessman-1 offered to contribute funds to Adams' 2021 mayoral campaign, but Adams knew that being a Turkish national, he was prohibited from participating in U.S. elections. Adams allegedly instructed his staff member to solicit the illegal contributions offered by Businessman-1, the indictment asserts.
January 2019: Adams and his partner went to Turkey, Jordan, and Oman. During their stay in Istanbul, a Turkish airline executive offered Adams' partner an upgrade from economy to business class for free, worth approximately $7,000, says the indictment.
While he was there, a wealthy Turkish businessman—referred to in the indictment as "Businessman-3"—agreed to contribute $50,000 or more to Adams' 2021 campaign in an effort to gain influence with Adams, who he believed might someday become a U.S. president.
December 2020: Adams solicited and received straw donations from a businessman managing a New York City-area construction company, the indictment claims.
The businessman, who wielded influence in "a different ethnic community" in the city, contributed $10,000 to Adams' 2021 campaign by giving $2,000 personally and reimbursing four of his employees a total of $8,000 for their donations, according to the indictment.
May 2021: According to the charges, Adams attended a gathering organized by a Turkish government figure, along with his team, and accepted disguised donations from a significant figure in New York City's Turkish business community, who ran another construction firm, nicknamed "Businessman-5" in the indictment.
That month, authorities claim Adams submitted a deceitful declaration to the Campaign Finance Board hiding straw donations from "Businessman-5."
June 2021: According to the accusations, Adams requested discounted business class airfare, luxury hotel stays, and transportation, which included a domestic flight, car, and chauffeur.
He's accused of soliciting, as per authorities, a complimentary hotel stay and complimentary use of a VIP room in the business class lounge of a Turkish airline for the Adams Fundraiser.
August 2021: As per the allegations, Adams instructed a staff member to obtain foreign contributions from a Turkish university.
September 2021: The indictment claims Adams pressured the NYC Fire Department to issue a letter in agreement with the occupation of a new Turkish consular building. Authorities say the 36-story skyscraper was opened without a fire inspection.
“At the time, the building would have failed an FDNY inspection,” the indictment states. “In exchange for free travel and other travel-related bribes in 2021 and 2022 provided by the Turkish Official, (Adams) did as instructed,” it continues.
That same month, authorities allege Adams solicited and accepted "deeply discounted" business class flight tickets for himself and an associate on roundtrip flights from New York to Pakistan.
CNN reached out to Turkish House and the NYC Fire Department.
October 2021: Authorities say Adams submitted "a false disclosure statement" to the Campaign Finance Board hiding straw donations from a Turkish university.
November 2021: Adams allegedly solicited and accepted a free car and driver and a meal at a luxury restaurant in Istanbul.
January 2022 - October 2023
January 2022: According to the accusations, Adams had a meeting with a Turkish businessman named in the indictment as "the Promoter" and agreed to accept foreign funds toward his 2025 campaign. "The Promoter" arranged disguised contributions to both of Adams’ campaigns, the indictment alleges.
July 2022: Adams' senior advisor and another staff member met with a Turkish official at the Turkish House and identified the senior official “as the point of contact for the Turkish Official’s ‘pending problems regarding’ the Turkish House such as ‘FDNY approvals,’” according to the indictment.
July 2022: The Turkish official arranged for business class upgrades on a Turkish airline for Adams’ close associates, the document alleges.
September 2023: According to the allegations, Adams attended a fundraiser where he thanked foreign donors for contributions of foreign money to his 2025 campaign made through disguised donors.
October 2023: Adams allegedly attended a fundraiser where he directed a staff member to coordinate disguised donations from a person referred to in the indictment as “Businessman-6,” a member of New York City’s Turkish-American community.
CNN's Evan Perez, Mark Morales, Kara Scannell, Brynn Gingras, Gloria Pazmino, Eric Levenson, Artemis Moshtaghian, Nicki Brown and Jeff Winter contributed to this report.
In response to the accusations, Mayor Adams stated that he looks forward to defending himself and the people of New York City during his entire professional career. Despite accepting several free or heavily discounted trips from a Turkish airline between 2016 and 2017, Mayor Adams failed to disclose these travel benefits to New York City's Conflict of Interest Board.
