FBI agents stopped Mayor Adams on the street earlier this week and seized multiple electronic devices from him as part of a federal investigation into allegations that the Turkish government funneled illegal foreign cash into his 2021 campaign’s coffers, an attorney for the mayor confirmed Friday.
Boyd Johnson, a defense attorney retained by Adams after the FBI raided his top campaign fundraiser’s home as part of the same probe last week, said the agents approached the mayor to confiscate his devices following an event Monday night.
“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.”
An NYPD source familiar with the law enforcement action told the Daily News that the feds presented the mayor with a warrant and took at least two cellphones from him. The devices were returned to him days later, the source said.
The seizure of the mayor’s devices marks an escalation of the federal inquiry into his campaign and appears to be the first time it has touched him directly.
“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, a former NYPD captain, said in a written statement provided by his campaign.
“I have nothing to hide.”
Before the phones were taken, Adams had been at a gala held at New York University near Manhattan’s Washington Square Park, said Evan Thies, Adams’ 2021 campaign spokesman. According to Thies, neither the mayor nor anyone from his campaign have received letters from the feds informing them they are targets of the federal probe.
Johnson’s statement said that in the wake of last Thursday’s FBI raid at the home of Adams fundraising chief Brianna Suggs, “it was discovered that an individual had recently acted improperly,” but no further detail was provided.
“In the spirit of transparency and cooperation, this behavior was immediately and proactively reported to investigators,” he added.
Johnson did not identify the individual or say how that person’s actions relate to the seizure of the mayor’s cellphones.
According to The New York Times, which first reported the cellphone seizures, the investigation is scrutinizing whether Adams’ 2021 campaign conspired with the Turkish government and KSK Construction, a Brooklyn-based contractor, to pump illegal foreign cash into the campaign’s accounts via straw donors.
The Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, which is involved in leading the investigation, did not immediately return a request for comment Friday evening.
Adams has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
It’s unclear which branch of the Turkish government is suspected in that alleged scheme or how much illicit money may have been sent into the mayor’s campaign accounts.
Eleven KSK employees donated nearly $14,000 to the Adams campaign on the same day in May 2021, city records show.
As reported by The News, KSK has ties to Turkey’s second largest political party, with executives of the firm having donated to the U.S. wing of the group and worked with it on projects overseas. According to news outlet The City, several members of U.S. groups allied with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdôgan have also donated to the mayor.
Adams has a long history of traveling to Turkey, including accepting a trip there in 2015 bankrolled by the country’s government — a decision he raised eyebrows for during the 2021 campaign due to the Erdôgan regime’s history of human rights abuses.
On Wednesday, Adams held his first press briefing with reporters since the feds raided Suggs’ home.
At that appearance, Adams did not mention his devices had been taken by the FBI two days earlier. When asked if he was concerned about legal exposure in the probe, he said he’d “be shocked if someone states that our campaign coordinated an illegal behavior.”
“I cannot tell you how much I start the day with telling my team: ‘We’ve got to follow the law, got to follow the law.’ Almost to the point that I’m annoying,” he said at the City Hall briefing. “I just strongly believe you have to follow the law. And so … it would really shock me if someone that was hired by my campaign did something that was inappropriate.”
J. Peter Donald, a former spokesman for the FBI, said the seizure of Adams’ phones likely signals there was “probable cause that there’s evidence of a crime” contained on one or more of the devices.
Donald said seizing the New York City mayor’s electronic devices suggests law enforcement officials are operating with a high degree of confidence in their investigation, wherever it may be headed.
“Going after the mayor of the city of New York, you better have good reason to think something is afoot,” he said. “I can’t stress how seriously that is taken by the Department of Justice.”
During the raid at Suggs’ Brooklyn home, federal agents seized documents, cellphones and other documents from her, according to sources. She has not been accused of any wrongdoing, nor has she commented publicly on the raid.
The FBI probe is part of a web of investigations involving Adams’ campaign and associates.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg this summer indicted six Adams campaign supporters, including a retired NYPD inspector who’s friendly with Adams, on charges that they orchestrated a sweeping straw donor scheme to benefit the mayor’s 2021 run. Two of those supporters pleaded guilty last month and are cooperating with Bragg’s ongoing investigation.
Bragg also in September indicted Eric Ulrich, Adams’ former Buildings Department commissioner, on charges that he accepted $150,000 in bribes in exchange for securing official government actions on behalf of six co-defendants.
At Wednesday’s briefing, Adams said he’s not losing any sleep over the investigations.
“I sleep well at night. I am clear that we follow the rules,” Adams said.
