NYC Mayor Adams hires private attorney amid probe into top fundraiser
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‘It would really shock me if someone that was hired by my campaign did something that’s inappropriate,’ Adams says
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he has hired a private attorney, after the home of a top fundraiser for the mayor was raided by the FBI last week.
The FBI searched the home of Brianna Suggs, a 25-year-old campaign consultant for Adams, and during the raid agents seized three iPhones and two laptop computers, along with papers and other evidence related to a corruption investigation.
While speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Adams said he did not have anything to fear from the investigation into the 25-year-old.
«It would really shock me if someone that was hired by my campaign did something that’s inappropriate,» he said. «Not only would it shock me, it would hurt me.»
The mayor also laughed off a question on whether he could face federal charges, noting that he hired a lawyer from the law firm WilmerHale to represent him.
The city’s chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, confirmed Adams’ administration was in touch with federal prosecutors in Manhattan about the matter, though she declined to elaborate on the communications.
«I just want to be completely transparent, that’s what I’ve stated all the time,» Adams said. «I sleep well at night. I am clear that we follow the rules. We follow the rules, and I am angry if there are those in any way who attempt to do anything that will go against our process of how we collect campaign dollars or the procedures that are in our city.
«But my campaign will follow the rules, we will continue to follow the rules,» he added.
The raid at Suggs’ residence was part of an inquiry into whether foreign money was funneled into Adams’ mayoral campaign, the New York Times reported last week, though it is understood that Adams is not being directly investigated.
Last Thursday’s raid in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn thrust Adams into the national spotlight since he was on his way to a meeting with President Biden and other mayors to discuss the illegal migrant crisis — only to turn around and make a dash back to the Big Apple. Adams had earlier in the day posted a video clip of him sitting in a D.C. bound plane before news of the raid broke.
Adams addressed the issue Thursday night at Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s residence, saying his administration would fully co-operate with any probe.
«I hold my campaign to the highest ethical standards,» Adams said. «Any inquiry that is done we’re going to fully participate and make sure that it’s done correctly.»
Last week’s raid forms part of a broad public corruption investigation into whether Adams’s 2021 election campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal foreign donations, The New York Times reported citing the warrant.
Investigators are also probing about the potential involvement of a Brooklyn construction company with ties to Turkey, as well as a small university in Washington, D.C., that also has ties to the country and to Adams.
It is not the first time people in Adams orbit have come under financial scrutiny.
In September, Eric Ulrich, Adams’ ex-buildings department commissioner, was charged with doling out political favors in return for more than $150,000 in bribes, according to the New York Post.
