h. nazan ışık—
26 September 2024—
I was at a dentist office waiting to be called. TV was on, there was a talk show which I wasn’t interested in.
I heard an announcement coming from the TV: “Breaking news. Mayor Adams accepted foreign bribes.” I looked at the screen, regular program was interrupted.
Jocelyn E. Strauber, the Commissioner of the New York City Department of Investigation (“DOI”), announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging ERIC ADAMS, the Mayor of New York City, with bribery, campaign finance, and conspiracy offenses.
DOI Commissioner Jocelyn E. Strauber said: “The indictment unsealed today alleges that Mayor Adams abused his power and position for nearly a decade, obtaining personal benefits and illegal campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and others, giving them undue influence over him.”
James E. Dennehy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”),
FBI Assistant Director James E. Dennehy said: “Today’s indictment serves as a sobering moment but also sends a powerful message to every elected official in this country: public service is a profound responsibility, and it should be a noble calling. When that’s perverted by greed and dishonesty, it robs us of our trust. This is a reminder that no one is above the law or beyond reproach.”
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York press release: ADAMS also sought and received other improper benefits from some of the same co-conspirators who funneled straw donations to his campaigns. In particular, a senior official in the Turkish diplomatic establishment (the “Turkish Official”), who facilitated many straw donations to ADAMS, also arranged for ADAMS and his companions to receive free or discounted travel on Turkey’s national airline (the “Turkish Airline”), which is owned in significant part by the Turkish Government, to destinations including France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkey itself. The Turkish Official and other Turkish nationals further arranged for ADAMS and his companions to receive, among other things, free rooms at opulent hotels, free meals at high-end restaurants, and free luxurious entertainment—while in Turkey.
In September 2021, the Turkish Official told ADAMS that it was his turn to repay the Turkish Official, by pressuring the New York City Fire Department (“FDNY”) to facilitate the opening of a new Turkish consular building—a 36-story skyscraper—without a fire inspection, in time for a high-profile visit by Turkey’s president. At the time, the building would have failed an FDNY inspection. In exchange for free travel and other travel-related bribes in 2021 and 2022 arranged by the Turkish Official, ADAMS did as instructed. Because of ADAMS’s pressure on the FDNY, the FDNY official responsible for the FDNY’s assessment of the skyscraper’s fire safety was told that he would lose his job if he failed to acquiesce, and, after ADAMS intervened, the skyscraper opened as requested by the Turkish Official.
h. nazan ışık
Photos © h. nazan ışık