By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
NEW YORK, USA (Worthy News) – The mayor of New York vowed to fight corruption charges amid calls for his resignation after U.S. prosecutors presented their case against him.
Eric Adams, who has led the world’s economic capital since 2022, spoke after an unsealed indictment showed that the charges against him included soliciting “illegal foreign donations,” bribery, and wire fraud.
“My legal team is going to peruse the entire indictment,” added the mayor of America’s most populous city. “Based on what I read, it’s clear that if it’s campaign violations, I know I don’t violate the campaigns, right? If it’s foreign donors, I know I don’t take money from foreign donors,” Adams stressed.
“I verbalized that to the team, both in writing and both in communication, and we will continue to do that. and we look forward to the legal team to handle this as I handle the city of New York and continue the success that we witnessed in the last two years and nine months … in New York.”
According to the indictment, Adams’s alleged wrongdoing continued after he was sworn into office.
It claims that a Turkish official “repeatedly” asked Adams not to make statements about the Armenian genocide during Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in 2022.
The Day commemorates a series of massacres and starvation of an estimated 1.5 million, mainly Christian, Armenians by the Ottomans in 1915.
TURKISH OFFICIAL
“On April 21, 2022, the Turkish official messaged the Adams staffer, noting that Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was approaching, and repeatedly asked the Adams staffer for assurances that Adams would not make any statement about the Armenian genocide,” the indictment noticed.
“The Adams staffer confirmed that Adams would not make a statement about the Armenian genocide. Adams did not make such a statement.”
The indictment also details expensive luxurious trips, some worth tens of thousands of dollars, often through Turkey.
Yet he made clear he would not step down, calling the charges “lies.”
“Now, if I am charged, many may say I should resign because I cannot manage the city while fighting the case. I can also understand how everyday New Yorkers would be concerned that I cannot do my job while I face accusations,” Adams told New Yorkers in a video message.
“But I have been facing these lies for months since I began to speak out for all of you, and their investigation started – yet the city has continued to improve. Make no mistake: you elected me to lead this city – and lead it, I will.”
Yet the indictment came as a setback for the self-declared tough-on-crime mayor who reintroduced a plain-clothed unit of police officers but also a “zero-tolerance” policy on homeless people sleeping in subway cars.
The 64-year-old is also known for his publicly declared pro-Israel stance and condemnation of pro-Palestine protesters occupying universities.
After the October 7 massacre of some 1,200 people in Israel by Hamas, he told a New York Stands With Israel rally: “Your fight is our fight. Your fight is our fight. And right here in New York, we have the largest Jewish population outside of Israel. This is the place that our voices must raise and cascade throughout the entire country. We will not be all right until every person responsible for this act is held accountable. And we don’t have to pretend.”
Copyright 1999-2024 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
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