The Federal Bureau of Investigation reportedly took New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ electronic devices amid investigations into his political fundraising during his 2021 campaign.
According to Adams’ attorney, Boyd Johnson, the FBI seized phones and an iPad that belonged to Adams as he was departing from a public event in Manhattan.
So New York City mayor Eric Adams said Joe Biden was doing a bad job on the migrant crisis and now Biden’s FBI just seized Adams’s cell phones and iPad as part of an election investigation. Probably a total coincidence.
— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) November 10, 2023
“On Monday night, the FBI approached the mayor after an event. The Mayor immediately complied with the FBI’s request and provided them with electronic devices,” Johnson said in a statement. “The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing and continues to cooperate with the investigation.”
This comes after an investigation was launched earlier this month over allegations that Adams allegedly accepted foreign donations during his 2021 political campaign.
The mayor’s top campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, had her home in Brooklyn searched earlier this month. According to Suggs’ LinkedIn profile, she was a “Fundraiser and Director of Logistics” for the mayor’s campaign, from 2019 to 2021. She apparently raised a total of more than $18 million for Adams’ campaign.
On Friday, Johnson said in a statement that an individual had recently acted improperly” without specifically identifying who it was.
“After learning of the federal investigation, it was discovered that an individual had recently acted improperly. In the spirit of transparency and cooperation, this behavior was immediately and proactively reported to investigators,” the lawyer said.
While the specifics of the investigation are still unclear, the New York Times recently obtained a search warrant that shows that the authorities are looking into whether the Adams campaign received contributions from overseas sources and engaged in a conspiracy with the Turkish government.
One business under investigation is the Brooklyn-based KSK Construction Group, which reportedly has connections to a chain of hotels in Turkey.
In response to the allegations, Adams maintained his innocence and insisted that he has “nothing to hide.
“As a former member of law enforcement, I expect all members of my staff to follow the law and fully cooperate with any sort of investigation — and I will continue to do exactly that,” Adams said, as per the Associated Press.
