New York Mayor Eric Adams indicted amid federal criminal investigations
New York Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted amid federal criminal investigations into his administration.
He is expected to be formally charged later today, although it is currently unclear what charge or charges he is facing as the indictment remains sealed.
It comes as the FBI investigates the running of America’s biggest city and a string of unexpected departures of top officials.
Early this month, agents seized devices from multiple top members of the Adams administration as part of what appears to be multiple, separate investigations.
Among the devices taken were those of New York police commissioner, Edward Caban – who resigned shortly after – and his twin brother.
New York police boss Edward Caban resigned soon after his devices were seized. Pic: Reuters
Agents also seized devices from the head of New York City‘s public schools system, David Banks, who announced on Tuesday he planned to retire by the end of the year.
The mayor’s top legal adviser, Lisa Zornberg, who had defended him at news conferences, resigned this month, saying in a brief letter: “I can no longer effectively serve in my position.”
Mr Adams himself had his phones seized by the FBI in November.
In a statement, he said: “I always knew that If I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target – and a target I became.
“If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
He said any charges would be “entirely false, based on lies” and that he does not plan to resign.
The mayor’s top legal adviser, Lisa Zornberg, also resigned this month. Pic: Reuters
The Democrat and former police captain won election nearly three years ago to become the second Black mayor of New York on a platform that promised a law-and-order approach to reducing crime.
He spent 22 years in the city’s police department before going into politics, first as a state senator and then as Brooklyn borough president.
But for much of the last year, Mr Adams has faced growing legal peril, with investigations into top advisers producing multiple subpoenas, searches and high-level departures.
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Prosecutors also subpoenaed the mayor, his campaign arm and City Hall over the summer to request information on his schedule, overseas travel and potential connections to the Turkish government.
In recent days, several senior Democrats have called for Mr Adams to step down.
The mayor has repeatedly said he wasn’t aware of any wrongdoing and previously dismissed speculation he would face charges as “rumours and innuendo”.
“The people of this city elected me to fight for them, and I will stay and fight no matter what,” Mr Adams said on Wednesday afternoon.
New York state governor Kathy Hochul could remove Mr Adams, but her office has so far not commented on the indictment.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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