New York City Mayor Eric Adams speaks during a press conference at City Hall, after it was revealed that he received a new round of federal grand jury subpoenas, New York City, USA, 16 August 2024.
Adam Gray | Reuters
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on criminal charges in federal court in Manhattan, a source familiar with the matter told CNBC on Wednesday night.
The indictment, which remains sealed, at least partially accuses Adams of criminal conduct related to donations to the 2021 mayoral campaign.
Adams was the first New York mayor to face criminal charges while in office.
It was previously known that the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office was investigating Adams, a former New York City police officer and state senator, for potentially conspiring with the Turkish government to funnel illegal donations to the campaign.
The New York Times on Friday reported that prosecutors had sent a grand jury subpoena to City Hall, Adams, and the campaign in July demanding information related to four other countries: Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan.
Earlier Wednesday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., called on the mayor to resign, saying the “flood of resignations and vacancies” resulting from various federal investigations of administration officials “threatens the functioning of government.”
“For the good of the city, he needs to step down,” Ocasio-Cortez said.
There are multiple federal investigations into Adams and people associated with him and his administration.
On Tuesday, city Schools Chancellor David Banks told Adams he expects to retire at the end of 2024.
Banks’ surprise announcement comes weeks after federal authorities seized electronic devices belonging to him, his brother, Vice Mayor Phil Banks, and his fiancee, Vice Mayor Sheena Wright.
Another Banks brother, Terence, is being investigated by the Manhattan US Attorney’s Office for the allocation of city contacts worth millions of dollars to receiving companies after hiring Terence Banks’ consulting firm.
The same federal prosecutor’s office is investigating whether James Caban, the twin brother of former New York Police Commissioner Edward Caban, exploited his relationship with his brother and the NYPD to benefit his nightclub security business.
Edward Caban resigned as police commissioner on September 12, a week after his own phone was intercepted by Federal investigators.
Three days after Edward Caban resigned, the mayor’s counsel Adam and chief legal counsel Lisa Zornberg resigned, saying they had “concluded that I am no longer fit for office.”
Late Friday, federal investigators executed a search warrant at the home of Thomas Donlon, the NYPD’s acting commissioner.
Donlon, who is a former FBI counterterrorism officer in New York, said this week that investigators “took material that came into my possession about 20 years ago and had nothing to do with work with the New York City Police Department.”
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