‘A true friend of Turkey’: Eric Adams bribery indictment reveals years of flights and favors

US federal prosecutors have accused members of the Turkish government of pulling off a years-long influence campaign to cultivate and secure favors from Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City.

In an indictment unsealed on Thursday morning, the US attorney of New York's southern district alleged that government officials and business leaders with ties to Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the Turkish president, showered Adams with thousands in illegal foreign campaign donations and free or heavily discounted luxury hotel stays and flights around the world.

In exchange, the indictment claims, Adams executed various favors for the Turkish government, including pressuring a local fire official to bypass safety regulations and greenlight the opening of a consular building, so it could be ready before a visit by Erdoğan.

After that alleged intervention, a Turkish government official messaged the soon-to-be mayor calling him "a true friend of Turkey", according to an exchange cited in the legal filing. Adams allegedly responded by calling the Turkish official "my brother",

Adams, a 64-year-old former police officer and state lawmaker, now faces charges of wire fraud, bribery and soliciting campaign donations from foreign nationals.

"The conduct alleged in the indictment, the foreign money, the corporate money, the bribery, the years of concealment, is a grave breach of the public's trust," Damian Williams, the US attorney for the southern district of New York, said in a press conference on Thursday.

Despite calls from a growing chorus of elected officials, Adams has vowed not to resign. The Democrat, who ran on a law-and-order message, is the first sitting mayor of New York to be indicted on federal corruption charges.