New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted on at least one federal criminal charge, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN on Wednesday night, after The New York Times was first to report the news of the indictment.
The indictment follows a monthslong federal investigation into campaign fundraising violations and foreign influence. The charges he is facing are not publicly known at this time, according to the report.
The mayor is expected to have several days to turn himself in, according to sources familiar with the case.
Adams has previously denied any wrongdoing, and has frequently repeated that he told members of his campaign and administration to follow the law.
“I always knew that If I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target—and a target I became. If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit,” Adams said responding to the news on Wednesday night.
CNN sought comment from lawyers for the mayor and City Hall. The US attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment.
Before news of the charges came out, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) urged Adams to resign in a social media post.
“I do not see how Mayor Adams can continue governing New York City. The flood of resignations and vacancies are threatening gov function. Nonstop investigations will make it impossible to recruit and retain a qualified administration,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on X.
“For the good of the city, he should resign,” she added.
In an emailed statement, Adams said that Ocasio-Cortez’s push for him to resign is due to “rumors and innuendo.”
“For anyone who self-righteously claims people charged with serious crimes should not be in jail to now say that the second Black mayor of New York should resign because of rumors and innuendo — without even a single charge being filed — is the height of hypocrisy,” he said in the statement.
“I am leading this city to protect it from exactly that kind of phony politics. The people of this city elected me to fight for them, and I will stay and fight no matter what,” he added.