NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso said on Monday that Turkish officials had also offered him gifts and a paid trip to Turkey after he took on his role in government.
Reynoso made the comments in a recent interview—days after Mayor Eric Adams’ was indicted last week on federal corruption charges that, among other things, accuse him of accepting lavish travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals. The mayor denies the charges.
Adams pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of wire fraud, bribery, conspiracy and two counts of receiving campaign contributions from a foreign national.
In his interview with PIX11, Reynoso confirmed that Turkish officials attempted to build a relationship with him through gifts, including an offer to fund a trip to Turkey and a set of eight elaborate porcelain gold-plated tea sets.
The Turkish officials initially offered to pay for his trip to Turkey and said that they “would take care of it.”
He said that he refused the trip and later also received the tea sets, intended for himself and his staff, but they returned it. “Obviously, my general counsel took that and returned it to the consulate.”
Reynoso said that he reported the incident to the proper authorities, including the FBI. “Everything we have we’ve given to the FBI, we’ve given to them, but we have also documentation and just a track record on how we handle those situations,” he said.
Asked if he felt these gifts were an attempt to “curry a favor” during his time as Brooklyn Borough President, Reynoso said in the interview: “Looking back, I definitely thought it was an intro into building a good relationship with me through gifts and so forth. While I was there, I just thought they were ignorant to the process, so they just didn’t know. It’s like you can’t do this. This is not the way we do things.”
However, Reynoso now sees the incident differently, especially in light of Adams’ situation. “Now looking at everything, they knew very well what they can or can’t do, but it seems like the mayor’s office gave them an opportunity in the past and they tried to take that with me as well. It’s just we didn’t get hooked.”
When asked if Turkish officials had mentioned any previous interactions with Mayor Adams, Reynoso said, “They had mentioned that the mayor’s traveled to Turkey before and that they said we want you to travel as well.”
Though Reynoso stopped short of calling for the mayor’s resignation, he expressed doubt about Mayor Adams’ future. “I believe that this mayor is going to be a one-term mayor regardless. I think at this point the few people outside of his loyal, loyal base that gave him a shot… I just don’t see the numbers necessarily for his success long term.”
Despite speculation, Reynoso confirmed that he has no intention of running for mayor, even if a special election is held. “No, I have not,” he said. “I’m not interested in running for mayor for this term.”
The mayor has so far vowed to remain in office and continue doing his job. It appears he's doing just that, as his attorneys urged a federal judge Monday to dismiss the bribery charge against him and accused “zealous prosecutors” of leveling an “extraordinarily vague allegation” that does not rise to the level of a federal crime.
Adams pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he accepted lavish travel benefits and illegal campaign contributions from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals in exchange for political favors that included pushing through the opening of a Turkish consulate building.