The recent unsealing of bribery and campaign finance charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams has narrowed the public eye into the past few years of his behavior and business dealings. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams of the Southern District of New York unsealed the indictment on Thursday, Sept. 26, sparking public outcry for his resignation.

“As alleged, Mayor Adams abused his position as this city’s highest elected official…to take bribes and solicit illegal campaign contributions,” said Williams. Williams’ announcement goes on to include allegations of taking “improper and illegal benefits” from foreign nationals and permitting a skyscraper to be built in Manhattan while ignoring key safety inspections.

The 57-page indictment also highlights the funneling of straw donations to Adams’ campaign as well as high-end travel luxuries via Turkish Airline.

While the indictment labels these exchanges as bribes used to win favor from a U.S. elected official, Adams argues that the trips in question were actually “gifts” and used his court filing response to argue that the charges should be dismissed.

In an unlikely twist, Adams may have Sabrina Carpenter (a pop star and singer of the hit song “Espresso”) to thank for the spotlight being aimed at him in the first place, specifically following the music video for her 2023 song, “Feather,” which was partially shot inside the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Church in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Discourses about the link between Carpenter’s music video and the downfall of Adams were sparked when Carpenter quipped on stage at a Sept. 29 concert, “Should we talk about how I got the mayor indicted?”

The Church’s Monsignor, Jamie Gigantiello approved the location for Carpenter’s video shoot, but later apologized after the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn issued a statement saying they were “appalled,” claiming the subject matter harmed the sanctity of the church. 

After being put into the public spotlight, Gigantiello and the Brooklyn church were then linked to a federal subpoena in relation to suspicious business dealings with Adams, possibly sparking the initial investigation on Nov. 2, 2023 with the FBI-led search of the home of Brianna Suggs, a major fundraiser for Adams. 

Within a few days, the FBI seized Adam’s electronic devices, reportedly looking into allegations that his campaign received foreign donations from Turkey. Just over a week later, Adams denied all allegations and started a fund to pay for legal expenses connecting to his 2021 mayoral campaign, saying “I look forward to defending myself and defending the people of this city as I’ve done throughout my entire professional career.”

The Sunday following the announcement of his charges, Adams responded to public scrutiny by saying, “When people say, ‘You need to resign,’ I say, ‘I need to reign.’”

As for the outcome of Adams’ case, Hofstra University law professor James Sample does consider two possibilities. While corruption cases can often be hard to prove, the fact that the FBI has unsealed the indictment and brought the case in front of the public does reveal that they have sufficient evidence to take this case all the way.

Adams, who is officially the first New York mayor to face criminal charges, has confirmed that he is in active communication with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams from office, but has not announced a decision either way. 

Cam Lyons has been an editor for the Thunderword since 2023. Their short story blog, “Loser Pulp“, is released twice a month.