The Eric Adams Indictment

The Biden-Harris Justice Department’s prosecution of Eric Adams, the Democratic mayor of the nation’s biggest, most high-profile city, is as intriguing as it is historic. City Hall has had its share of colorful, even roguish chief executives, but before Thursday, none had ever been criminally charged while in office, much less seen Gracie Mansion searched by a swarm of federal agents.

Damian Williams, the Biden-appointed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), announced a five-count corruption indictment. In a series of schemes tracing back a decade, when he was Brooklyn borough president, Adams is alleged to have put his growing political influence and potential on sale, particularly to foreign bidders. The most energetic of these were from Turkey — emissaries of President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s unsavory regime and well-heeled businesspeople adjacent to it.