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A trove of documents in NYC Mayor Adams’ federal corruption case were just unsealed
By
Samantha Max
Published May 9, 2025
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Ed Reed / Mayoral Photography Office
By
Samantha Max
Published May 9, 2025
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New details are coming to light in Mayor Eric Adams’ now-dismissed federal corruption case, after the court unsealed a trove of documents Friday.
For the first time, the public can see the search warrants, affidavits and various other records tied to the case. The New York Times and the New York Post asked a federal judge to publish the materials.
The investigative documents foreshadow what the prosecution’s theory of the case would have been. Prosecutors told different companies they wanted records because they were investigating possible illegal straw donations to Adams’ campaign and a scheme to open the new Turkish consulate before a visit from Turkey’s president. The documents also detail how prosecutors established their facts, including through photographs of Adams with people in question and message exchanges that hinted at possible crimes.
A federal grand jury indicted Adams last September on charges of bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and solicitation of campaign contributions from a foreign national. Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York accused him of trading his political influence for flight upgrades, swanky hotel accommodations and illegal campaign donations when he was Brooklyn borough president and winner of the 2021 Democratic primary for mayor.
Adams pleaded not guilty and maintained that he never broke the law. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“This case — the first of its kind airline upgrade ‘corruption’ case — should never have been brought in the first place and is now over,” Alex Spiro, the mayor’s attorney, said in a text message.
The records made public Friday afternoon include an application from prosecutors to Google seeking email records for Erden Arkan, a Turkish businessman who has since pleaded guilty to wire fraud for allegedly participation in a straw donation scheme, as well as the accounts of several of his employees accused of donating to the campaign. They also include applications to Apple for iCloud data.
As far back as the fall of 2018, prosecutors told Apple, Adams sent texts that suggested at least one meeting with people associated with Turkey, because the messages referred to the “Group from Turkey (from yesterday meeting).” An application for Apple records also cited a text exchange in which someone — whose name was redacted — asked to confirm that Adams wouldn’t make a statement about the Armenian Genocide. “He wont,” someone whose name was also redacted, replied.
Adams accused prosecutors of politically targeting him for his criticism of President Joe Biden’s handling of the migrant crisis — though the investigation started more than a year before their policy dispute, according to court papers. After Donald Trump was reelected in November, Trump said he thought the mayor had been “treated pretty unfairly” and that he was considering a pardon. The two met at Mar-a-Lago in January, and Adams attended Trump’s inauguration.
Less than a month later, Trump appointees at the Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. directed prosecutors at the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan to dismiss the charges against Adams, at least until after the mayoral election in November, so Adams could focus on immigration enforcement.
Several prosecutors resigned in protest. Last month, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning prosecutors can’t bring the charges back in the future. Ho said he didn’t want the mayor to be “beholden” to the Trump administration.
“Everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions,” Ho wrote.
Adams is now running for reelection as an independent after celebrating the dismissal of what he has called a “bogus campaign” against him.
Tagged
new york city
public safety
Adams investigations
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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