The federal indictment against soon-to-be-former NYC Mayor Eric Adams continues to reveal shocking details about corruption and incompetence. Adams allegedly accepted over $100,000 in graft from various Turkish interests, including free and discounted flights that took him 1,700 miles off course, and discounted hotel rooms. A straw-donor scheme defrauded NYC out of $10 million through a donation-matching program, while Adams slashed funding for libraries and homeless shelters.
Attempts to cover up the corruption were laughably amateurish. One staffer deleted her messaging app mid-interview with federal agents. When confronted with an FBI search warrant, Adams handed over his business phones but withheld his personal device until the next day, when he claimed he had changed the PIN to prevent staffers from deleting evidence. Ironically, he forgot the new code.
Governor Kathy Hochul is distancing herself from Adams, and calls for his resignation are expected. The fallout from this scandal has implications for the future of the Democratic party, which had pinned hopes on Adams as a tough-on-crime candidate. The indictment includes bizarre interactions, such as a staffer texting Adams to delete messages, to which he replied, 'Always do.'