Biden and Zelenskyy to meet at White House as Ukrainian leader aims to shore up support for war effort – live | US news

Joanna Walters

Ahead of the bilateral meeting shortly at the White House between Joe Biden and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the US president earlier today announced a “surge” in assistance to Ukraine’s resistance of Russia’s invasion of its territory, amounting to nearly $8bn in additional military aid.

It includes new long-range munitions. It’s still unclear how Biden is going to respond to Zelenskyy presenting what he has called a “victory plan” over Russia’s aggression, which would include use of US missiles to strike far within Russia.

Today, I am announcing a surge in security assistance for Ukraine and a series of additional actions to help Ukraine win this war,” Biden said in a statement, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP) earlier.

Joanna Walters

The White House is not inclined to comment on the federal indictment of Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was just asked at the media briefing in the West Wing if Joe Biden has any comment on the mayor being charged and whether the US president thinks Adams should resign.

“I’m not going to comment on this ongoing matter, I will leave that to the Department of Justice,” Jean-Pierre said.

She was then asked for any response to Adams saying he was being targeted by the Biden administration for negative remarks he has made about insufficient federal support for the city in its handling of an increase in migrants arriving in the last 18 months, having been tactically bussed to New York by Republican leaders from states sharing the US-Mexico border, especially Texas.

Jean-Pierre said: “We have been always very clear …the Department of Justice is independent.”

And in response to a question, she said that although Adams attended a reception held by Biden at the Metropolitan Museum in New York last night, the US president “did not see the mayor and they did not speak”.

Hello, US politics blog readers, it’s been a lively morning and there is a lot more news to come. We’ll bring it to you as it happens. The president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is invited to a bilateral meeting with Joe Biden at the White House, taking place shortly. Zelenskyy will make remarks with Kamala Harris mid-afternoon, the US vice president and Democratic party nominee for president in this November’s election. Then the two will hold a meeting. Biden and Harris will make remarks together in the Rose Garden on addressing gun violence in America. Right now, the White House press briefing with Karine Jean-Pierre is under way and has just finished addressing the impending arrival in Florida of Hurricane Helene.

Here’s where things stand:

• Federal prosecutors call New York mayor Eric Adams’s alleged misconduct a grave breach of public trust. The US attorney for the southern district of New York Damian Williams strongly criticized the mayor at a press conference a little earlier.

• Williams vowed to continue to investigate the mayor’s case and to “hold more people accountable”. Charges against Adams include bribery, wire fraud and acceptance of illegal foreign campaign contributions including from Turkish government officials. Williams said the mayor “kept the public in the dark”.

• Eric Adams’s alleged misconduct continued even after he was sworn into office, according to the indictment, which alleges that a Turkish official “repeatedly” asked Adams not to make any statements about the Armenian genocide during Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in 2022, to which request Adams acquiesced.

• The indictment against Mayor Adams includes many luxury trips that were not put in annual disclosure forms, prosecutors say. Trips cost many thousands of dollars and included visiting Turkey and flying via Turkey while visiting countries such as China, India, France, Hungary and Ghana.

• Eric Adams was charged in a 57-page federal indictment with crimes relating to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery and receiving campaign contributions by foreign nationals, wire fraud, solicitation of a contribution by a foreign national and bribery.

• Federal agents raided Adams’s official residence, Gracie Mansion, on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in the early hours today, as reports emerged of the mayor being hit with a federal indictment. The raid reportedly included a group of nearly a dozen men and women in suits entering the property, with several carrying briefcases, backpacks or duffel bags.

In a statement released on Thursday, Hakeem Jeffries, minority leader of the House of Representatives, said of Eric Adams’s indictment:

The indictment of a sitting mayor is a serious and sober moment for New York City. Like every other New Yorker and American, Eric Adams is entitled to the presumption of innocence. That principle is central to the administration of justice in the United States of America.

A jury of the mayor’s peers will now evaluate the charges in the indictment and ultimately render a determination. In the meantime, I pray for the well-being of our great city.

Following the unsealing of a 57-page indictment against Eric Adams, Southern District Court of New York attorney Damian Williams delivered a news conference in which he called Adams’ alleged misconduct a “grave breach of the public’s trust”.

Detailing the charges against Adams which include bribery, wire fraud and acceptance of illegal foreign campaign contributions including from Turkish government officials, Williams said:

“Year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark.”

Outlining various undisclosed luxury travel and stays taken by Adams over the years, including suites at five-star hotels in Turkey, Williams said:

“We allege that mayor Adams abused that privilege and broke the laws that are designed to ensure that officials like him serve the people, not the highest bidder, not a foreign bidder, and certainly not a foreign power. These are bright red lines, and we allege that the mayor crossed them again and again for years.”

Meanwhile, at his own press conference following an overnight raid at his Gracie Mansion residence, Adams remained defiant, saying:

“It’s an unfortunate day. And it’s a painful day … But inside all of that is a day when we will finally reveal why, for 10 months, I’ve gone through this. And I look forward to defending myself.”

Maintaining his innocence, Adams added:

“Everyone who knows me knows that I follow campaign rules and I follow the law.”

Upon being asked by reporters whether he believed the case against him was politically motivated, Adams said people should question the federal officials.

Speaking at the press conference, New York City’s department of investigations commissioner Jocelyn Stauber said:

“Today for the first time in New York City’s modern history, we announced criminal charges against the sitting mayor of New York City. As our highest elected official, the mayor should set the standard for all of city government and exemplify the integrity, transparency and dedication to serving the public that all New Yorkers deserve.

Instead, the indictment unsealed today alleges that mayor Adams abused his power and position for nearly a decade as Brooklyn borough president and as mayor to enrich himself and his mayoral campaigns as charged …

We handled this investigation as we would any other, following the facts and seeking to hold wrongdoers accountable no matter their role or title. Our unique access to city records and expertise in matters of city government make us a critical partner in the fight to root out corruption.”

Damian Williams called Eric Adams’s alleged misconduct a “grave breach of the public’s trust” and vowed to continue to investigation to “hold more people accountable”.

He said:

“I want to make three things crystal clear. First, the conduct alleged in the indictment, the foreign money, the corporate money, the bribery, the years of concealment, is a grave breach of the public’s trust. Public office is a privilege. We allege that Mayor Adams abused that privilege and broke the laws that are designed to ensure that officials like him serve the people, not the highest bidder, not a foreign bidder, and certainly not a foreign power. These are bright red lines, and we allege that the mayor crossed them again and again for years. That is the only reason we are here today.

Second, this investigation continues, we continue to dig and we will hold more people accountable. And I encourage anyone with information to come forward and to do so before it is too late.

And third, the Southern District of New York remains committed to rooting out corruption without fear or favor and without regard to partisan politics. We are not focused on the right or the left, we are focused only on right and wrong. That is our duty and we will fulfill it now.”

“In 2021 the Turkish government official was trying to open a brand new high-rise building in Manhattan that would house Turkey’s consulate,” said Damian Williams.

He added:

“There was significant time pressure, because the Turkish official desperately needed the building to be open in time for a visit from Turkey’s president. This building was important to the Turkish official, and it was important to Turkey, but the FDNY, as fire safety professionals, wouldn’t let the building open because the building hadn’t passed an inspection, and not just that. Some of the people of FDNY thought the building had so many issues and defects that the building was not safe to occupy. So the Turkish official sent word to Adams that it was ‘his turn’ to support Turkey.

And as we allege, Adams delivered and pressured the fire department to let the building open. The FDNY professionals were convinced that they would lose their jobs if they didn’t back down, and so they did. They got out of the way and let the building open. the Turkish official got what he wanted. And as we explain in the indictment, just four days after Adams held up his end of the bargain he went right back to soliciting more travel benefits from the Turkish airline.”

“In exchange for some of those improper benefits, [Eric Adams] intervened in the New York City fire department’s inspection process for a building owned and operated by the Turkish government, allowing it to open even though it had not passed the fire inspection,” said Damian Williams.

He added:

“The corruption alleged in the indictment is, as I said, long running, as we allege in the indictment, Adams’ solicitation of illegal campaign contributions began in 2018 after he started raising funds for his 2021 mayoral campaign, he agreed to take contributions offered by multiple Turkish businessmen, several of whom he met in Turkey.

Adams knew that these wealthy individuals could not legally donate in a US election. Federal law clearly prohibits foreign donations. That’s how we protect our elections from foreign influence.

Adams directed his staff to pursue this illegal money to support his campaign for mayor, and as we allege, Adams continued to pursue foreign money in secret well into 2021 and it didn’t stop with his first campaign for mayor. As we allege, in 2023, the mayor rekindled these corrupt relationships, seeking more illegal campaign contributions from some of the same foreign sources to support his reelection campaign.”

Southern District Court of New York attorney Damian Williams is now speaking.

“Mayor Adams took these contributions, even though he knew they were illegal, and even though he knew these contributions were attempts by a Turkish government official and Turkish businessman to buy influence with him …

The mayor had a duty to disclose these gifts on his annual public disclosure forms so that the public could see who was giving him. But as we allege, year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark.

He told the public he received no gifts, even though he was secretly being showered with them. We allege that Adams accepted these benefits knowing that they were given to him because of his position.”

“My legal team is going to peruse the entire indictment,” said Eric Adams in a public address following the unsealing of the federal indictment against him.

“Based on what I read, it’s clear that if it’s campaign violations, I know I don’t violate the campaigns, right? If it’s foreign donors, I know I don’t take money from foreign donors.

I verbalized that to the team, both in writing and both in communication, and we will continue to do that, and we look forward to the legal team to handle this as I handle the city of New York and continue the success that we witnessed in the last two years and nine months … in New York.”

Eric Adams’s alleged misconduct continued even after he was sworn into office, according to the indictment, which alleges that a Turkish official “repeatedly” asked Adams not to make any statements about the Armenian genocide during Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day in 2022.

The indictment states:

On April 21, 2022, the Turkish official messaged the Adams staffer, noting that Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day was approaching, and repeatedly asked the Adams staffer for assurances that Adams would not make any statement about the Armenian genocide.

The Adams staffer confirmed that Adams would not make a statement about the Armenian genocide. Adams did not make such a statement.

Here are some of the luxury trips Eric Adams took in recent years that were not disclosed in annual disclosure forms, according to the indictment:

• 2016: A $12,000+ value round trip between New York and India via Turkey that included a free upgrade to business class for two.

• 2017: A $41,000+ value trip involving free business class tickets for three on roundtrips from New York to France, Turkey and China, as well as a “heavily discounted” stay in the Bentley suite of St Regis Istanbul.

• 2017: A $16,000+ value trip involving free business class tickets for two on roundtrips between New York and China via Turkey.

• 2018: A $12,000+ value trip involving free upgrade to business class for two on roundtrips between New York and Hungary via Turkey.

• 2019: A $9,000+ trip involving a free upgrade to business class for one flight from New York to Turkey, free stay at the Cosmopolitan suite of St Regis Istanbul, free meals, transportation and entertainment in Istanbul.

• 2021: A $21,000+ value trip involving a free upgrade to business class for two on a roundtrip from New York to Turkey, free or “steeply discounted” luxury hotel and resort stays, transportation, entertainment and meals.

• 2021: A $12,000+ value trip between New York and Ghana via Turkey that included a free upgrade to business class for two, free meal and transportation during an Istanbul layover.

The US district court for the southern district of New York is set to hold a press conference at 11.30am ET on “significant public corruption charges”.

The press conference, which will be lead by SDNY attorney general Damian Williams, will follow the unveiling of a 57-page federal indictment against Eric Adams that includes counts of wire fraud, bribery and acceptance of illegal campaign contributions.

Adams has remained defiant and vowed to not resign, saying that he is innocent and “lead I will”.