Seth Wenig
- Eric Adams told a staffer he “always” deleted messages after discussing alleged bribes.
- Prosecutors included some of the messages in the new indictment against the NYC mayor.
- Adams also claimed he forgot his new phone password after the FBI seized it.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams promised to “always” delete messages exchanged with one of his staffers who arranged Turkish government-funded trips, according to the indictment against him unsealed Thursday.
Prosecutors got their hands on the messages anyway.
“To be o[n the] safe side Please Delete all messages you send me,” the Adams staffer wrote in a message to Adams, according to the indictment.
“Always do,” Adams responded, according to prosecutors.
In the sweeping 57-page indictment , the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York accused Adams of taking bribes from Turkey over the course of several years.
Adams accepted free or heavily discounted flights around the world and luxury trips in hotels and yachts, among other perks, prosecutors allege. He never disclosed the trips — worth over $100,000 — on official documentation and worked to fabricate documents to cover them up, prosecutors allege.