LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Just minutes ago, a federal indictment brought by a grand jury against New York City mayor Eric Adams was unsealed. It charges him with taking bribes and illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources. This comes after FBI agents earlier this morning entered the mayor's official residence, Gracie Mansion, and seized Adams' phone. After the indictment was unsealed, Adams repeated he would not step down and urged New Yorkers to wait and see his defense before judging him.
Michel spoke earlier with Brigid Bergin, senior politics reporter at member station WNYC in New York, and asked about the allegations.
BRIGID BERGIN, BYLINE: About a year ago, The New York Times reported that the FBI was investigating whether the mayor conspired with the Turkish government to funnel illegal foreign donations to his campaign committee in exchange for favors from his administration. The Turkish government had built a new high-rise consulate in Manhattan, and there were issues with its fire safety inspection.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
It does seem as though things have escalated in recent weeks. So for people who haven't been following it, can you just tell us a bit about what has been happening?
BERGIN: Yeah, this really comes after nearly a year of investigations into the mayor's campaign and city government. And this month, things really just stepped into a new gear. Federal investigators seized the phones of the city's police commissioner, two deputy mayors and the city's schools chancellor. And that was then followed by a wave of departures from the administration, including the police commissioner, the mayor's chief counsel. And just this week, the city's schools chancellor said he was retiring at the end of this calendar year.
MARTIN: How has the mayor responded to all this?
BERGIN: Yeah, so, you know, for the past year, the mayor has insisted he did nothing wrong. And remember, this is someone who got his start as a New York City police officer who rose to the rank of captain. So he often invokes his ties to law enforcement when he says he's always followed the law. He tells the people around him to follow the law. But last night, he also issued a video statement. He says the charges will be found entirely false and that they're based on lies.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
ERIC ADAMS: I will fight these injustices with every ounce of my strength and my spirit. I know I am innocent.
MARTIN: So tell us about the reaction from the city. I mean, as we - as you've just told us, that this news broke last night, but what have you heard so far? How are people reacting to this?
BERGIN: Lots of people have been calling on him to resign. Even yesterday before the news of the indictment broke, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a statement to that effect. And since the news broke, the calls on Adams to step aside are really just growing louder by the moment.
The one person who could actually remove Adams from office right now is New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Her spokesman, Avi Small, issued a statement very late last night. He said she is aware of these concerning news reports, is monitoring the situation. So the pressure on Adams is growing.
MARTIN: That is WNYC senior politics reporter Brigid Bergin. Brigid, thank you so much.
BERGIN: Thank you.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC) Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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