If Eric Adams Resigns Or Something, Jumaane Williams Becomes Acting Mayor!

NYC’s Progressive Mayors Since the 1930s: La Guardia, Wagner, Lindsay, de Blasio

Yesterday morning, I went down a philosophical rabbit hole that started with Plato and included Aristotle, Kant, Confucius, John Locke, Jean-Jacques Rousseau… all talking about the need for exceedingly harsh punishments for political leaders who violate their oaths of office. In that post I didn’t mention, for example, that Rousseau pointed out that leaders and public officials who abuse their power are particularly dangerous because their actions corrupt the very fabric of the state and the social contract. But when I went upstairs to get dressed, I heard an FBI official speaking about the Eric Adams indictment after obviously having spent time reading Rousseau’s work! And Plato’s.

The indictment is 57 pages. You can read it here. Or, take my word for it: Adams’ corruption is mind-boggling. Oh, I found this— Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He went through the charges, very much worth paying attention to:

It’s not Qatar, Singapore or Emirates but Turkish Air has one of the most luxurious business classes in the air, excellent lounges, fabulous comfort amenities and it won this year’s Skytrax’s Best Business Class on broad catering, beating out Qatar and Singapore. So all those flights to diverse places—  from Ghana, Hungary, Sri Lanka, China via Istanbul on Turkish Air… well if it’s free and fabulous; who would resist? Certainly not Eric Adams, whose phone was seized by the FBI yesterday. Gracie Mansion was raided too.

He’s been soliciting bribes and illegal campaign contributions, often using straw donors, for at least a decade. If I recall correctly, a similar straw donor scheme put Rep. Michael Grimm (R-NY) behind bars. From the indictment:

“By 2018, Adams— who had by then made known his plans to run for Mayor of New York City— not only accepted, but sought illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, as well as other things of value, from foreign nationals,” the indictment says.

“As Adams’s prominence and power grew, his foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him, particularly when, in 2021, it became clear that Adams would become New York City’s mayor.”

“Adams agreed, providing favorable treatment in exchange for the illicit benefits he received. After his inauguration as Mayor of New York City, Adams soon began preparing for his next election, including by planning to solicit more illegal contributions and granting requests from those who supported his 2021 mayoral campaign with such donations.”

He was arraigned this morning. As expected, Adams is whining he’s being targeted and persecuted because of his race and because he criticized the Biden administration’s immigrant policies. AOC was first and Jerry Nadler was the most recent, but there have been plenty of other NY political leaders calling for Adams to resign as well. And the NY Times editorial board jumped in yesterday and demanded he resign immediately. From editorial in The Times:

This is the first time a sitting mayor of New York City has been indicted. The charges against Adams are serious, including allegations that he misappropriated more than $10 million in public funds for his 2021 campaign. The mayor will have his day in court and is entitled to make a vigorous defense, but that does not mean he must force New York City to wait for him to prove his innocence under the law. To serve the city that elected him, Adams should immediately resign and turn City Hall over to someone untainted by criminal charges and endless investigations.

According to a federal grand jury, Adams accepted more than $100,000 worth of luxury travel benefits from the Turkish government for the better part of a decade, including discount air tickets and free hotel rooms and meals, and then used city resources to hide them from public view. He solicited and received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from Turkish sources— though foreign donations are prohibited by law— and then conspired to cover his tracks by falsifying the names of the donors. He used the straw donors to improperly receive $10 million in public matching funds from the city for his campaign, the indictment says.

And when the Turks asked for payback, he is accused of providing it. The indictment says he used his influence, after he had won the mayoral primary in 2021, to set aside public safety regulations to allow a Turkish consular building to open without a required Fire Department inspection.

…The challenge of governing the city is daunting for even the best mayors, and the specter of widespread corruption in the Adams administration has little precedent. There are nearly one million students in the school system, the nation’s largest, but the schools chancellor, under federal investigation, has submitted his resignation. There are about 34,000 officers in the nation’s largest Police Department, but the police commissioner resigned after federal officials seized his phone. The interim commissioner had his home raided by federal agents in an unrelated case after a week on the job.

Law enforcement also seized the phone of the deputy mayor for public safety, whose former security firm allegedly received a windfall in city business after Adams appointed him, The Times recently reported.

Other top city officials have also resigned, apparently no longer willing to associate themselves with the Adams administration. A further exodus of competent city administrators will only add to the chaos.

If he stayed in office, Adams would have to guide a City Hall that is now adrift, while facing a monthslong prosecution that will consume his attention and time. Concerns about his ethics and integrity would surely give potential replacements grave doubts about being a part of his administration. It is a task that would be a struggle for any elected official, but especially for one who has never been able to demonstrate a command over the city’s sprawling work force or point to major successes in the first three years of his term.