Several media outlets reported on Friday, Nov. 10, that New York City Mayor Eric Adams had his iphones and or an ipad seized by the FBI as part of a probe into his 2021 election finances.

 

Last week, several media outlets reported that the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, Adams’ political fundraising chief, was raided by the FBI as part of the same investigation into the mayor’s 2021 campaign finances, a probe that has also led federal authorities to investigate possible ties with Turkish government officials, including Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as reported by The City publication. Foreign persons and foreign governments are precluded from donating to U.S. political campaigns under U.S. federal law.

 

The NY Daily News also reported that Briggs allegedly got paid last year by a Manhattan property owner to lobby City Hall in hopes of getting a lease on a city-owned building renewed, as first reported by the NY Daily News earlier this year.

 

Norwood News contacted the press office for City Hall, the NYPD, the New York office of the FBI, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York court system, and the U.S. Department of Justice for comment about the ongoing probe. The NYPD referred us to the FBI, the FBI New York office declined to comment, adding they could not confirm nor deny the reports, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York court system also declined to comment. We did not receive an immediate response form City Hall.

 

As Brooklyn borough president and mayoral candidate, Adams campaigned at several events in The Bronx throughout 2021, including in Norwood and Bedford Park. In the summer of 2020, the mayor joined former District 12 City Councilman Andy King and other community leaders and union officials for a unity and solidarity event in Wakefield, ahead of his November announcement that he was joining the mayoral race.

 

As reported, King was expelled from the council on Oct. 5, 2020, over charges he allegedly harassed and discriminated against a female employee, allegedly took a kickback from another staffer, and allegedly failed to pay a fine for previous misconduct. The former councilman has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.

 

We asked the NYC law department along with a number of other federal, City and State agencies for details of whether King ever paid the fine imposed on him following the council’s ethics investigation into his activities, and whether he still gets a pension. We have not received any concrete confirmation to date on this and are continuing to follow up with our inquiries on the matter.

 

Unlike many of New York’s political elite, the mayor was not in attendance on Friday at the annual Somos conference in Puerto Rico and instead attended events in New York City.

 

The NY Daily News recently reported that the mayor hired a personal lawyer in the wake of the FBI raid of Suggs’ home. Norwood News reached out to the firm for comment on this story. We received a statement from the mayor via his attorneys, saying, “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. I have nothing to hide.”

 

The mayor’s campaign attorney, Boyd Johnson, also shared the following statement with Norwood News, via a legal firm, “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 mayor has been and remains committed to cooperating in this matter.”

 

He continued, “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. The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing and continues to cooperate with the investigation.”

 

Neither Adams nor any member of his campaign has been accused of any criminal wrongdoing.

 

According to an article dated Feb. 5 [2024], former NYPD inspector Dwayne Montgomery pled guilty the same day to conspiracy charges for his role in orchestrating a straw donor scheme to benefit Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign.

 

According to the article, Montgomery, who the mayor knew socially through the NYPD, pled guilty to fifth-degree conspiracy charges, a Class A misdemeanor, in front of Judge Althea Drysdale at Manhattan Criminal Court on Feb. 5. “In the plea agreement, Montgomery agreed to pay a $500 fine and submit to 200 hours of community service, which he will complete as an instructor at BKLYN Combine, a non-profit serving African-American youth from financially disadvantaged communities,” the article read.

 

It went on to say “Montgomery was one of six co-defendants indicted last summer by a grand jury, which Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg convened, as part of the sprawling scheme to fill Adams’ campaign coffers with illegal straw donations, wherein people who make contributions are reimbursed to shield the true origin of the funds and get around campaign finance limits.”

Adams has [still] not been accused of wrongdoing and has denied any involvement in the scheme, despite knowing Montgomery personally, AMNY reported.

 

Editor’s Note: In a previous version of this story, it was incorrectly reported that former District 12 City Council Member Andy King was expelled from the council in October 2021, rather than in 2020. The story has since been corrected. We apologize for this error.