--:-- Ryan Knudsen: First of all, I want to thank you for being here this morning.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Yesterday morning, the mayor of America's largest city stepped up to a microphone. So it was a drizzly day in New York City, and Eric Adams walked out of Gracie Mansion, which is his official residence, surrounded by Black civil rights and religious leaders. That's our colleague Jimmy Veilkind.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: For months, Adams has been under federal investigation. And yesterday, the city and the country was about to find out what those charges were. And the point was for him to state his side of this case before prosecutors spoke.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: So Adams goes up to the lectern, and he essentially says, I'm not going to be distracted by this. From here, my attorneys will take care of the case so I can take care of the city. My day-to-day will not change. I will continue to do the job for 8.3 million New Yorkers that I was elected to do. And then he also repeats that he hasn't done anything wrong.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: In about 30 minutes, you're going to hear a story of the case that is in front of us. Across town...
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Good morning, everyone. Thank you for gathering. Prosecutors at the Southern District of New York started to tell that story about Adams. Today we are announcing campaign finance, bribery, and conspiracy charges against Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Prosecutors allege that Adams took and solicited bribes from Turkish officials and business people in exchange for political favors. Adams denies the accusations. In court today, he pleaded not guilty.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: How remarkable is this moment? Well, overall, since New York City was founded, it's had 110 mayors. Eric Adams is the 110th mayor.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: In that time, we've had mayors run for president. We've had mayors quickly leave town amid corruption scandals. We've had all manner of incident and scandal and colorful character. But until this week, not one mayor of the city of New York has ever been charged with a federal crime.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: That changes with Eric Adams. Welcome to The Journal, our show about money, business, and power. I'm Ryan Knudsen. It's Friday, September 27th.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Coming up on the show, Eric Adams, New York's first sitting mayor to be indicted. Some days call for working up a sweat, working on your passion, and endless action. Ditch the glitch with Liquid IV's new energy multiplier, sugar-free.
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--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Eric Adams has been involved in New York politics for a long time. What's his background? How did he get to the point that he became mayor?
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: So Eric Adams likes to say that he was dyslexic, arrested, rejected, and then elected. I was dyslexic, arrested, rejected. No, I'm elected. I'm the man of the state.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He grew up in Brooklyn and Queens in the outer boroughs in a very working class household. And at points during his youth, the family flirted with homelessness.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He tells a story about how he would go to school carrying clothes because he didn't know if when he got home, the family might have been evicted from his apartment.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He sort of got this obsession with rats in the city. He hates rats. We're going to kill rats. Kill some rats. Killing rats. Called me a murderer because I was killing rats. Kill rats.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He joins the NYPD and he has a 20-year career in which he rises to the rank of captain. And at the same time, he's one of the co-founders of a group called 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care that agitated for civil rights that protested that spoke about police tactics they believed were unfairly and disproportionately targeting Black and Hispanic youth
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: Adams first got into politics in 2006 when he was elected to the New York State Senate. And when he arrived, he was, well, he was colorful. You know, he's always very nattily dressed. Even now, you'll often see him with a pocket square.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: At one point, he used public funds for a PSA campaign about how people should dress better. There was billboards that his office paid for that said, raise your pants, raise your image. It was the Stop the Sad campaign.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: And then there was also that video that he made about how you can go in and search your kids' room for contraband. That's right. It's a classic. It's an Eric Adams classic.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He kind of looks dead at the camera and he says, you have an absolute right to search your child's room. And he, like, lifts up the back of a baby doll and shows there's, like, you can have, like, a gun or something.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: You should always, when your child brings in his popular knapsack with many different locations, look through it to see what exactly is your child carrying in addition to a book. Something simple as a crack pipe, a used crack pipe. It's really something. It's, it's, it's indescribable.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: People should just, just, yeah, people should just watch that.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: Adam spent six years in the New York State Senate. In 2013, he was elected Brooklyn Borough President, a largely ceremonial role. And he ran in the 2021 election for mayor of New York.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He campaigned as a centrist, law-and-order Democrat, at a time when the city was facing a spike in violent crime. And he beat out a crowded field of more progressive challengers.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: So the 2021 mayoral election in New York City, and really the Democratic primary election, which is tantamount to the general election, was a busy affair.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: And on primary night, he was just giddy. I remember watching his speech and there was a look at me, look at me element to it.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He declared that he was the new face of the Democratic Party. Look at me and you're seeing the future of the Democratic Party. And immediately he was riding high.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: Then now he was about to enter the big stage and take power in a real and substantive way.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: After Adams took office, things got more difficult. Some of the mayor's tougher tactics to take on crime upset criminal justice advocates.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: And some types of crime still remain elevated compared to where they were before the pandemic.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: During Adams' tenure, New York also saw a massive increase in immigration after waves of migrants were bust in from the southern border.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: At first, Adams encouraged migrants to come. But as homeless shelters and city services got overwhelmed, he changed his tone and warned that it would destroy the city.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: At the same time that Adams was grappling with these crises, you know, he's still trying to be Eric Adams.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: I think in New York, schtick is an important political asset. So at the same time that he's grappling with tens of thousands of asylum seekers, He's also partying at an exclusive members-only club.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He's doing multiple events a day. He's cheerleading for the city. He's getting robots and unveiling how robots are going to help with police work.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: It's a high-profile attack on rats and the garbage cans. He names a rat czar, and he introduces this cutting-edge technology as Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind, plays in the background.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: You know, welcome to our trash revolution and no one does it bad. Which is a trash can with a lid.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: So Adams, he's still Eric Adams. He's a colorful person. And whenever people would throw things at him or he has a line where he would just say like, I'm perfectly imperfect. And he kind of grin.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: And it was something that really resonated because there are a lot of New Yorkers who are perfectly imperfect, if not all of them. Not you, Jimmy. I mean, you're just perfect.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Eric Adams has been involved in New York politics for a long time. What's his background? How did he get to the point that he became mayor?
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: So Eric Adams likes to say that he was dyslexic, arrested, rejected, and then elected. I was dyslexic, arrested, rejected. No, I'm elected. I'm the man of the state.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He grew up in Brooklyn and Queens in the outer boroughs in a very working class household. And at points during his youth, the family flirted with homelessness.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He tells a story about how he would go to school carrying clothes because he didn't know if when he got home, the family might have been evicted from his apartment.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He sort of got this obsession with rats in the city. He hates rats. We're going to kill rats. Kill some rats. Killing rats. Called me a murderer because I was killing rats. Kill rats.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He joins the NYPD and he has a 20-year career in which he rises to the rank of captain. And at the same time, he's one of the co-founders of a group called 100 Blacks in Law Enforcement Who Care that agitated for civil rights that protested that spoke about police tactics they believed were unfairly and disproportionately targeting Black and Hispanic youth
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: Adams first got into politics in 2006 when he was elected to the New York State Senate. And when he arrived, he was, well, he was colorful. You know, he's always very nattily dressed. Even now, you'll often see him with a pocket square.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: At one point, he used public funds for a PSA campaign about how people should dress better. There was billboards that his office paid for that said, raise your pants, raise your image. It was the Stop the Sad campaign.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: And then there was also that video that he made about how you can go in and search your kids' room for contraband. That's right. It's a classic. It's an Eric Adams classic.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He kind of looks dead at the camera and he says, you have an absolute right to search your child's room. And he, like, lifts up the back of a baby doll and shows there's, like, you can have, like, a gun or something.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: You should always, when your child brings in his popular knapsack with many different locations, look through it to see what exactly is your child carrying in addition to a book. Something simple as a crack pipe, a used crack pipe. It's really something. It's, it's, it's indescribable.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: People should just, just, yeah, people should just watch that.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: Adam spent six years in the New York State Senate. In 2013, he was elected Brooklyn Borough President, a largely ceremonial role. And he ran in the 2021 election for mayor of New York.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He campaigned as a centrist, law-and-order Democrat, at a time when the city was facing a spike in violent crime. And he beat out a crowded field of more progressive challengers.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: So the 2021 mayoral election in New York City, and really the Democratic primary election, which is tantamount to the general election, was a busy affair.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: And on primary night, he was just giddy. I remember watching his speech and there was a look at me, look at me element to it.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He declared that he was the new face of the Democratic Party. Look at me and you're seeing the future of the Democratic Party. And immediately he was riding high.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: Then now he was about to enter the big stage and take power in a real and substantive way.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: After Adams took office, things got more difficult. Some of the mayor's tougher tactics to take on crime upset criminal justice advocates.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: And some types of crime still remain elevated compared to where they were before the pandemic.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: During Adams' tenure, New York also saw a massive increase in immigration after waves of migrants were bust in from the southern border.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: At first, Adams encouraged migrants to come. But as homeless shelters and city services got overwhelmed, he changed his tone and warned that it would destroy the city.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: At the same time that Adams was grappling with these crises, you know, he's still trying to be Eric Adams.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: I think in New York, schtick is an important political asset. So at the same time that he's grappling with tens of thousands of asylum seekers, He's also partying at an exclusive members-only club.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: He's doing multiple events a day. He's cheerleading for the city. He's getting robots and unveiling how robots are going to help with police work.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: It's a high-profile attack on rats and the garbage cans. He names a rat czar, and he introduces this cutting-edge technology as Alicia Keys, Empire State of Mind, plays in the background.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: You know, welcome to our trash revolution and no one does it bad. Which is a trash can with a lid.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: So Adams, he's still Eric Adams. He's a colorful person. And whenever people would throw things at him or he has a line where he would just say like, I'm perfectly imperfect. And he kind of grin.
--:-- Jimmy Veilkind: And it was something that really resonated because there are a lot of New Yorkers who are perfectly imperfect, if not all of them. Not you, Jimmy. I mean, you're just perfect.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: How did Eric Adams respond in the moment when they came up and grabbed his phone? He said he was going to cooperate fully with federal authorities.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: He said that he had done nothing wrong. He said that both he and all the members of his administration were expected to follow the law.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And he tried to continue to do what he had been doing. He has a line where he said, focus, no distractions, and grind.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And then the distractions got harder to ignore. There are multiple agencies that are looking at different aspects of the Adams administration and different people within the Adams administration.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And then within the last month the head of the schools the city school chancellor and the NYPD commissioner both had their phones seized by federal authorities
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The mayor's chief counsel resigned suddenly on a Saturday night. You saw the NYPD commissioner step down.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: So there's been a lot of smoke surrounding Adams. and it's come to a point this week where the questions about what was going to happen, who was going to get in trouble, what that trouble might be, were just really reaching a fever pitch.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: No one else has been accused of any wrongdoing. While Adam's inner circle started collapsing, federal prosecutors were circling in on him. That's next. We'll be right back.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: I'm so excited to embark on this adventure with all of you. Make the best I do win! On brand with Jimmy Fallon. Series premiere Tuesday on NBC.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Hey, business owners. We know you know the importance of maximizing every dollar. With the Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business American Express card, you can make your expenses work just as hard as you.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: From afternoon coffee runs to stocking office supplies and even team dinners, you can earn miles on all your business expenses. Plus, you can earn 125,000 bonus miles for a limited time through October 29th.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The Delta SkyMiles Reserve Business Card. If you travel, you know. Minimum spending requirements and terms apply. Offer ends October 29th, 2025.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Eric Adams faces five felony counts. Wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of soliciting contributions by foreign nationals, and one count of bribery.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Adams pleaded not guilty. Appearing at the courthouse today, the mayor flashed a thumbs up. His lawyer told reporters, quote, this isn't even a real case.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: All right, so let's talk about the indictment. What is Adams being accused of here? The indictment accuses Eric Adams of having been bribed by Turkish interests, including Turkish official and later doing favors for the government of Turkey.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: In a sense, it's a classic quid pro quo scheme, only in this case, the influencing party is a foreign government. But prosecutors allege that.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: It was clear from some of the evidence unsealed in court papers this week that Turkish officials felt that if they could establish a strong relationship with him, than they could have a friend who would be useful as Adams' political career progressed, according to court papers.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The indictment alleges that the relationship between Adams, Turkish officials, and business leaders goes back as far as 2015.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: According to court documents, Adams became the beneficiary of more than $100,000 worth of lavish gifts from Turkish hosts. The Southern District of New York described them as bribes.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: So what kind of freebies and bribes did Eric Adams allegedly receive? They say that Adams accepted luxury travel.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Adams has been known during his time as a public official for enjoying trips overseas. And he seemed to come to really enjoy flying Turkish Airlines, the national airline of Turkey.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Now, according to court papers, Adams allegedly solicited tickets on Turkish Airlines. Sometimes he didn't pay for them at all.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Sometimes he would pay for coach seat that would then be upgraded to business class, an upgrade that prosecutors allege is worth tens of thousands of dollars in some instances.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And he sort of enjoyed the perks of free travel and access.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The other major allegation revolves around illegal campaign contributions. The indictment says that Adams and his staff took advantage of a special program that New York City has.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The program allows for candidates to get public funding for their campaign by matching small-dollar donations. Prosecutors allege that Turkish officials and business people illegally funneled money into this program by using the names of New York residents in order to inflate the amount that Adams' campaign was able to receive.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Adams' 2021 campaign received more than $10 million in public funds, though it's unclear just how much of that money was illegally obtained.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: In September of 2021, a Turkish official contacted Adams, according to the indictment, and said it was now Adams' turn to help them out.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: What was the Turkish government and Turkish officials getting in exchange for what they were giving Mayor Adams allegedly?
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: At first there was much. At first it was mostly a one relationship.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The clearest favor that prosecutors allege has to do with the Turkish consulate. Now, it's near the United Nations building on the east side of Manhattan.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: It's a 36-story skyscraper, and the Turkish government wanted to have a grand opening at this building. Prosecutors say that Turkish officials reached out to Adams to try to get him to expedite approval from the fire department and the buildings department to get a temporary certificate of occupancy for the building so that things could move forward.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And Adams replies, let me look into this. And then sure enough, the gears of city government properly greased, turned pretty quickly.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The skyscraper opened as requested, even after an official in the fire department said the building was unsafe.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Part of what prosecutors allege is that Adams knew that what he was doing was wrong and that he attempted to cover his tracks with a phony paper trail, especially around all that free travel.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: At one point, Adams and a staffer were caught communicating, saying, just to be extra safe, be sure you delete these messages between us.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And he said, always do. You know, hint. Nothing ever gets deleted on the internet.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: In another text exchange cited by prosecutors, an Adams staffer told Turkish Airlines that Adams wanted to pay for his flight.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And the Turkish Airlines official said, well, how about $50? And the staffer said basically like, no, no, you kidding?
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The staffer wrote back, quote, his every step is being watched right now. Let it be somewhat real. We can't pay that little. How about like $1,000?
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And of course, that was still, prosecutors allege, a fraction of the cost of those tickets.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And what has Adams said about all this in his defense now that the indictment has been unsealed?
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Adams and his attorneys have said that prosecutors are painting a dark narrative of a person who is being manipulated and bribed by a foreign government.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: But they say that airline upgrades are normal course of business. People who are VIPs get upgraded all the time.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: He's also said that he followed the law and that he looks forward to his day in court.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Adams is up for re-election next year, but people are starting to call for him to resign.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And there are questions about how America's largest city can run amid such scandal, and with so many departures on the mayoral team.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: So what does this all mean for Eric Adams, someone who at one point claimed he was the new face of the Democratic Party and, you know, who seemed to have what looked like a pretty bright future in politics?
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Well, right now, Ryan, he's fighting for his political life. One thing, Ryan, is already clear.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: All the talk of Eric Adams as the face of the new Democratic Party, well, that's almost at this point become a joke.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: I was at the Democratic convention in Chicago last month, and Adams, the mayor of the nation's largest city, did not have a speaking slot on the convention floor.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And so he was sort of relegated to this event off to the side from the main arena.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And he didn't even have the stage to himself. And afterward, you know, he was kind of faced with these questions about the investigations, which had been sort of swirling.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And this question of, well, you know, how does it feel? You feel like you're sidelined in the Democratic Party.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And he sort of chuckled and he smiled a little bit. He goes, I don't have to be on stage. I'm the mayor of New York. I'm the mayor of New York.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: My life is a stage. My life is a stage.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: That's all for today. Friday, September 27th.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The Journal is a co-production of Spotify and The Wall Street Journal.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: The show is made by Catherine Brewer, Maria Byrne, Jonathan Davis, Pia Gadkari, Rachel Humphries, Matt Kwong, Kate Leinbaugh, Jessica Mendoza, Annie Minoff, Laura Morris, Enrique Perez de la Rosa, Sarah Platt, Alan Rodriguez Espinosa, Heather Rogers, Pierce Singhi, Jivika Verma, Lisa Wang, Catherine Whalen, Tatiana Zamis, and me, Ryan Knudsen, with help from Trina Menino.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: And a big thank you and shout out to Laying Tong, who's been our amazing intern for the past six months.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Laying, we are rooting for you and we wish you the best. Thanks for everything.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Our engineers are Griffin Tanner, Nathan Singapak, and Peter Leonard, with help this week from Sam bear.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Our theme music is by So Wiley. Additional music this week from Peter Leonard, Bobby Lord, Emma Munger, Nathan Singapak, Griffin Tanner, So Wiley, and Blue Dot Sessions.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Fact-checking by Kate Gallagher and Najwa Jamal.
--:-- Ryan Knudsen: Thanks for listening. See you Monday.
