(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) New York City Mayor Eric Adams affirmed his innocence on Friday afternoon after being subpoenaed by the Biden-led DOJ as part of their corruption investigation, the New York Post reported.
“It takes a great deal of discipline to not say something when you know you’ve done nothing wrong,” Adams said inside City Hall, in an apparent jab at federal prosecutors.
Adams invoked his career as a New York Police Department officer to imply he followed the law.
“I’ve been clear over and over again, I’m a former law enforcement person, we’re going to follow the rules… and whatever information we can give to show that we complied with the rules,” the mayor added.
According to the New York Post, Adams rarely takes questions during press conferences. The Mayor’s Office called this press conference just two hours prior.
Adams’s remarks followed a report from The New York Times a day earlier that the mayor and his aides had received at least three subpoenas seeking documents, including text messages, related to the probe.
Several outlets reported that the probe allegedly centers on alleged illegal donations from the Turkish government to Adams’s mayoral campaign in 2021.
Prosecutors are investigation claims that Adams allegedly received free airline upgrades on a Turkish airline. The unusually expedited issuance of fire permits to the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan is also under scrutiny.
Adams denied all allegations but stated he will “follow the process and come out on the other side.”
Adams’s attorneys, Brendan McGuire and Boyd Johnson, both partners at WilmerHale, stated they have not identified any evidence of “wrongdoing by the mayor.”
They added, “To the contrary, we have identified extensive evidence undermining the reported theories of federal prosecution as to the mayor, which we have voluntarily shared with the US Attorney.”
The federal investigation into the Adams campaign coincided with his damning criticism of the Biden-Harris administration’s disastrous handling of the border crisis.
New York City has been rocked by an unprecedented influx of illegal aliens, overwhelming taxpayer-funded shelters and hotels. Adams has blamed the federal administration for the chaos.
Since the probe began, Adams has remained relatively quiet in contrast to his constant criticism of the Biden administration. Notably, critics, including President Donald Trump, have questioned whether the probe is politically motivated.
“I’m not even blaming the mayor. I think the mayor was told to take a back seat because they came after him like they’re going to indict him, and now he’s gone quiet. These are fascists, they’re terrible people. So I’m not blaming him,” Trump said of the Adam investigation.
If indicted, Adams could be challenged by Andrew Cuomo, the former New York governor who resigned in disgraced in 2021.
