The federal indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams was unsealed and released to the public today, confirming weeks of speculation that he would be charged with accepting illegal foreign campaign donations from Turkish officials. It was also learned that he accepted lavish travel gifts including stays at posh hotel suites.

Mayor Adams was charged with bribery and fraud in addition to accepting overseas donations for his political campaign.

The indictment, issued by the Southern District of New York, alleges that he sought out and received “illegal campaign contributions to his 2021 mayoral campaign, as well as other things of value, from foreign nationals” and that the trail of corruption continued after his inauguration.

“Adams soon began preparing for his next election, including by planning to solicit more illegal contributions and granting requests from those who supported his 2021 mayoral campaign,” reads a line from the unsealed indictment which also alleges that he defrauded the City of New York by funneling illegal foreign donations through straw donors based in America.

Mr. Adams is also described as a seasoned world traveler and  that he took a large amount of gifts from a ““senior official in the Turkish diplomatic establishment.”

Among the gifts he received were described as “free rooms at opulent hotels, free meals at high-end restaurants and free luxurious entertainment while in Turkey.”

The mayor is also alleged to have tried to cover up the receiving of the red carpet treatment he got overseas by paying  “a nominal fee to create the appearance of having paid for travel that was in fact heavily discounted” and deleted messages with co-conspirators.

Mr. Adams held a contentious press conference in from of City Hall in lower Manhattan shortly after the indictment was released, where he and others who spoke on his behalf, were met with a barrage of insults from hecklers, including one armed with a megaphone.

“This is not a black thing! This is a justice thing,” the unidentified man shouted as Adams, flanked by members of his church.

The mayor attempted to proclaim his innocence and urged the public to not let them “demonize him.”

“We expected this. This is not surprising to us at all,” he said. “The actions that have unfolded over the last 10 months. The leaks. The commentary. The demonizing. This did not surprise us that we reached this day and I ask New Yorkers to wait to hear our defense before making any judgments.”

Mr. Adams also said that it would be business as usual.

“I will continue to do the job and the 300,000 plus employees of our city government will continue to do their jobs because this is what we do as New Yorkers,” the Mayor said. “It’s an insult to the heartbroken people of this city that anyone would say that they won’t do their jobs while this case proceeds in the background.”