Eric Adams insisted on cooperating with the FBI. The 57-page indictment tells a different story

When the federal investigation centered on Eric Adams last year, the New York mayor stuck to a familiar script.

“As a former law enforcement employee, I expect all of my employees to obey the law and cooperate fully in any investigation – and that is exactly what I will continue to do,” he said on November 9, 2023.

Three days later, Adams sounded a similar refrain: “I have not been accused of any wrongdoing and will continue to cooperate with investigators.”

And last August, as the drumbeat of the investigation grew louder, the mayor said: “We will not interfere in the process. We will cooperate in the process.”

But the federal indictment unsealed Thursday tells a different story. Adams and his associates did not fully cooperate with federal investigators – they conspired to obstruct the investigation into foreign bribery and corruption in ways that ranged from clumsy to silly, the indictment says.

In one case, an unidentified Adams employee agreed to an interview with FBI agents. But during the meeting, the indictment says, she excused herself to go to the bathroom. There, prosecutors allege, she deleted the encrypted messaging app that she used to communicate with Adams and his alleged Turkish co-conspirators.

Then on November 6, 2023, following an incident in Manhattan, FBI agents armed with a search warrant approached the mayor and attempted to seize his electronic devices. According to the indictment, Adams carried two cell phones, but not the personal phone he used to communicate with his co-conspirators. When he produced it the next day in response to a subpoena, he said he couldn’t remember the new password he created, the indictment says.

“While the federal investigation into defendant Eric Adams’ criminal conduct continued, there were also efforts to thwart that investigation,” the indictment states.

Now Adams, a Democrat, is fighting for his political life. He is accused of nearly a decade of bribery between Turkish businessmen and at least one government official.

Since 2015, Adams received free or discounted airline tickets and luxury hotel rooms worth more than $100,000, as well as illegal campaign money, in exchange for honoring the wishes of his benefactors, the indictment says.

He pleaded not guilty Friday to five charges – including bribery, wire fraud and soliciting a donation from a foreign national. “This isn’t even a real case,” his attorney, Alex Spiro, said after the hearing.

But some political experts see no path forward for Adams, a former NYPD captain who took office three years ago promising to crack down on crime and unrest in America’s largest city.

“Stick a fork in him,” said Doug Muzzio, a retired political science professor at Baruch College with extensive knowledge of New York politics. “It’s cooked.”

Rep. Jerry Nadler on Friday became the latest prominent Democrat in New York to call for Adams to resign, joining a list that also includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez.

As he tries to stay in office, Adams also must contend with at least three additional federal investigations and the resignation of several top officials.

Wrong paper trail

The indictment alleges that Adams not only disclosed the travel benefits he received from the Turkish nationals, including free or discounted flights and upgrades to destinations such as India, France, China and Ghana. The mayor created a false paper trail to make it appear as if he had actually paid for his trip, the indictment says.

In one case, Adams sent an email to his flight planner informing him that he had paid for Turkish Airlines business class flights he took during an extended trip in the summer of 2017. Together with a relative and a staff member, the mayor traveled to Nice, France; Istanbul; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and Beijing, the indictment says. According to prosecutors, one ticket alone was worth $10,000.

“I left you the international airline money in an envelope in your top desk drawer,” Adams wrote, misspelling the word “drawer,” the indictment says. “Please send it to them.”

But airline records confirmed that Adams did not pay the airline in cash or otherwise because the tickets were free, the indictment says.

“As the indictment makes clear, this is just a clumsy cover-up,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said Friday.

Another episode described in the indictment illustrates the alleged attempt to conceal wrongdoing. In March 2019, an Adams employee exchanged text messages with the then-Brooklyn borough president about another possible trip to Turkey.

“To be o[n the] “To be safe, please delete any messages you send to me,” the employee wrote to Adams, according to the indictment.

“Always like that,” Adams replied, the indictment says.

These incidents occurred before the numerous investigations came to light and Adams began insisting on his cooperation.

But another incident occurred last June after the mayor repeatedly said he was supporting investigators, which prosecutors said underscored efforts by Adams and his team to obstruct the investigation.

FBI agents interviewed a New York businessman who prosecutors say was a straw donor – a person who funnels someone else’s money to hide his origins – to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign. The businessman then contacted the Adams associate, who asked him for the straw donation, the indictment says.

Later that day, the Adams employee visited the businessman in his office and said he had just met with the mayor. The employee instructed the businessman to lie to investigators, the indictment says. The employee also took photos of the subpoena that had been issued to the businessman to send to Adams, the indictment says.

The next day, the Adams employee met with the businessman again. In a somewhat confusing confession, the employee said that when he met with Adams the day before, they left their cellphones outside the room so it was “safe” to talk, according to the lawsuit.

The employee then explained that while Adams was upset that law enforcement had contacted the businessman, the mayor believed the man “would not cooperate with law enforcement,” the indictment says.

“Elegant Oakey”

The wide-ranging criminal case marks the first time in 150 years that a sitting mayor of New York City has been charged with a crime. Before Adams, there was Oakey Hall.

Hall was indicted in the early 1870s during an investigation into William “Boss” Tweed, the powerful leader of the Tammany Hall political machine. According to the Museum of the City of New York, “Elegant Oakey,” as he was known, was eventually acquitted but never ran for office again.

Adams remained defiant in the wake of the indictment, vowing to fight the allegations and remain as mayor.

Hours after a swarm of FBI agents showed up at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, early Thursday and confiscated his phone again, Adams held a news conference outside the historic property.

He said he had been “demonized” over the past 10 months and that he had always followed the law.

He also seemed to suggest once again that he had done everything he could to assist investigators.

“If you look at all of our cooperation and our attempts to sit together and cooperate,” Adams said, “if you look at what happened, it’s a narrative of … that something inappropriate was done, and it was just wrong.” .”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com