News - New York mayor, accused of corruption ties with Azerbaijan and Turkey, charged

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted following a federal investigation, sources tell CBS News New York. The indictment remains sealed, so it's unclear what charges Adams will face. However, it will make him the first sitting mayor in New York City history to be indicted The mayor may appear in court as soon as Thursday morning to face the charges, sources say. The move comes on the heels of several investigations involving the mayor and members of his administration. The various probes have been playing out over the course of months, starting in November 2023, and heated up with a flurry of subpoenas in recent weeks. In a taped video message sent through his attorney, Adams responded to reports of the indictment on Wednesday night, and called the charges "entirely false." Asked earlier this week if he was going to resign due to the investigations, Adams rejected the idea outright and said he was looking forward to running for reelection, and eventually being sworn in for a second term. New York Governor Kathy Hochul does have the ability to remove Adams from office, CBS News New York's Marcia Kramer reported, adding there will be pressure on her to do so because he has many positions to fill due to the recent resignations and may have a hard time filling them due to his situation. If Adams were to resign or be removed by the governor, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams would take over on an interim basis and would have three days to call for a special election that would have to be held within 80 days. As ABC News previously reported, the New York mayor's investigation was at least in part about whether Adams and his election campaign had received illegal donations from Turkey, pressuring firefighters to quickly inspect the new Turkish consulate building. Adams' attorneys, Brendan McGuire and Boyd Johnson, said they conducted their own investigation into the areas federal prosecutors are pursuing and concluded the mayor did nothing wrong. And Politico previously reported that the Azerbaijani government had paid for two New York mayoral aides to visit the country, billed as an economic development trip, months before the raid.