New York City Mayor Eric Adams indicted on federal charges: NYT
news from the New York Times that New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal charges. Joyce Vance, former U.S. attorney joins to discuss the legal circumstances
news from the New York Times that New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal charges. Joyce Vance, former U.S. attorney joins to discuss the legal circumstances
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NewsTranscript
00:00We have some breaking news this evening to bring you tonight involving the
00:04mayor of America's largest city, this one. The New York Times is reporting
00:07tonight that New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on federal
00:11charges. NBC News has not independently verified that report and the Times
00:16reports that those charges remain sealed as of this evening, so we do not know
00:20what those charges are and what they include or do not include. Joining me now
00:25is Joyce Vance, former U.S. attorney and an MSNBC legal analyst. Joyce, just to
00:29reiterate what we have now, NBC News can report that New York City Mayor Eric
00:33Adams is expected to face federal charges by prosecutors out of the
00:37Southern District in New York and those charges could come as soon as tomorrow
00:41according to two sources familiar with the matter. Joyce, just your top-line
00:47reaction first to the fact that the feds are charging potentially, reportedly, the
00:52mayor of New York City. If that is in fact what happens, Eric Adams will
00:58become the first mayor in New York City history to be charged while in office.
01:03Your thoughts. So I think this looks like a classic federal public corruption
01:10investigation. Unfortunately, the Justice Department has repeatedly been in the
01:15business of indicting mayors who are involved in corruption. That doesn't come
01:20as a surprise, I don't think, to anyone. There have been a number of
01:23investigations here. Joyce, I'm gonna let you turn your phone off. I'm gonna do it
01:30magically. Hey Siri, stop my alarm. It happens. Just in terms of, you know, you're
01:39talking about a classic corruption investigation, what we know is that the
01:43feds were interested in potential illegal foreign donations. The countries
01:47that have been mentioned in the reporting, again, we do not know if this
01:50is going to be in the indictment, included Turkey, Israel, China, Qatar, South
01:54Korea, and Uzbekistan. You know, Lisa Rubin mentioned there may be up to five,
02:00six, or seven different federal investigations. How would those work?
02:05I mean, what is the sort of pecking order of those investigations and sort of how
02:10do you expect them to work in concert vis-a-vis these indictments that we're
02:14going to be seeing tomorrow morning? So it's possible that this is multiple
02:19sorts of branches of the same investigation, that in the course of
02:23doing one investigation, prosecutors stumbled upon other crimes and began
02:29branching out the investigation. That wouldn't be at all unusual. Much of the
02:34early interest, some of the early indication that we had involved these
02:38investigations about Turkey. Perhaps it was some sort of bribery or pay-to-play.
02:42We don't know, but prosecutors have likely been to the grand jury, obtained
02:48an indictment that will be unsealed, and we'll learn more about the details of
02:53what they're alleging once they unseal that indictment, whether it's limited
02:58simply to the Turkey investigation. Are there others? Will it only involve the
03:04mayor or will there be multiple defendants in a conspiracy in this case?
03:08You know, I should just, again, for folks who haven't been following this
03:11closely, and that is totally understandable, the investigation thus
03:15far, the reporting that we have for The New York Times has focused on Mr. Adams
03:20pressuring the fire department to approve a new high-rise Turkish consulate
03:24in Midtown. They've examined free flights and flight upgrades the mayor received
03:29from Turkish Airlines. They have also looked at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar,
03:36which the mayor attended, as well as, you know, information about the tickets he
03:41got to the World Cup in Qatar. I mentioned this in my conversation with
03:44Lisa Rubin. We're also looking at Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea, and Uzbekistan.
03:49Joyce, they seized the mayor's phones, several, I say phones, plural, maybe just
03:55phone, singular, but what would you imagine they would want to get out of the
03:59seizure of the mayor's phones in a case like this? Right, so the forensic
04:05investigators who look at phones are very sophisticated and able to obtain
04:10data, sometimes that the individual whose phone it is believes that they have
04:14deleted or can't be recovered. So it can be useful simply for recovering
04:20addresses and contacts and patterns of communications. If you have the
04:25appropriate probable cause, you can get communications themselves. You might see
04:30searches on the phone. What has the individual whose phone you've seized
04:34been searching for? Phones are a goldmine, a real treasure trove for investigators
04:39that can help you develop linkages between individuals and events, as well
04:44as providing specific evidence that's used to further a prosecution. Joyce,
04:49when you talk about, you know, this is obviously very much a quickly moving
04:55weather front, but when you talk about the mayor's ability to lead the city on
05:00a practical matter facing