New York City Mayor Eric Adams, pictured in a May 1 photo, has been indicted on federal corruption charges that say his campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations. (OSV News/Reuters/Mike Segar)
by Brian Fraga
Staff Reporter
Editor's note: This story has been updated to add comments from Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted in a sprawling federal corruption investigation that had probed in part whether his campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations.
Adams' indictment unsealed Sept. 26 came amid an expanding investigation where days earlier, according to a local television report, federal investigators issued a subpoena at a Brooklyn Catholic parish inquiring into the pastor's business dealings with the mayor's former chief of staff.
Msgr. Jamie Gigantiello, pastor of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Brooklyn's Williamsburg neighborhood, told National Catholic Reporter on Sept. 26 that he has no involvement with the embattled mayor's alleged schemes.
"I have had no business dealings with the mayor of New York," Gigantiello said.
The indictment charges Adams with bribery, wire fraud, solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
Federal authorities accuse Adams of seeking and accepting improper valuable benefits for more than a decade, including luxury international travel from wealthy foreign business people and at least one Turkish government official who sought to gain influence over him.
The indictment does not explicitly refer to Gigantiello, who declined to answer questions about the subpoena or his purported dealings with Adams' former chief of staff. He addressed the controversy near the end of Mass on Sept. 22, NCR previously reported.
"I need your prayers," Gigantiello told parishioners.
Advertisement
First reported by NBC News 4 in New York, the subpoena sought information about financial or business transactions between Gigantiello and Frank Carone, a New York businessman who is Adams' former chief of staff.
In 2021, Carone was honored at the Futures in Education Annual Scholarship Fund Dinner, an annual fundraiser for Catholic school scholarships in Queens and Brooklyn. Gigantiello, then the vicar of development for the Diocese of Brooklyn, presented Carone with an award alongside former Brooklyn Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio.
Carone and Gigantiello have known each other since the priest served as a pastor to his family, News 4 reported. On X, the social media platform, Carone in November 2023 defended Gigantiello after the diocese removed him as vicar of development for allowing a risque music video to be filmed in the parish church.
"This is an outrageous abuse of discretion. Clearly not justified. Years of resolute dedication cast aside," said Carone, a former Brooklyn Democratic Party lawyer who left City Hall to start his own business consulting firm. According to his professional website, Carone also previously served as a board member and audit chair of the Catholic Foundation of Brooklyn and Queens. Gigantiello has served as a member of the same board.
In a statement provided to National Catholic Reporter Sept. 23, a spokeswoman for the Brooklyn Diocese said the diocese could not "confirm or deny receipt of a subpoena." She said the diocese was "fully committed" to cooperating with law enforcement in "all investigations, including of conduct at individual parishes or involving any priest."
A New York Fire Department chaplain with a gregarious personality who sells his own signature line of pasta sauce, Gigantiello socializes comfortably with city leaders. He traveled with Adams and Carone to visit Pope Francis in May, News 4 reported. Gigantiello's personal website features photos of himself with Adams and celebrities such as former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.
Gigantiello told NCR on Sept. 26 that despite the personal "sufferings" he had experienced since the music video controversy 10 months ago, that he still loves being a priest "and serving God's people."
In a video statement he released Sept. 25, Adams struck a defiant tone, insisting he had done nothing wrong. He said if any criminal charges were filed against him, they would be "entirely false, built on lies."
"I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became," he said. "If I am charged, I am innocent, and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit."
