FBI raided the home of New York City Mayor Eric Adams‘ chief fundraiser and campaign consultant, Brianna Suggs, according a search warrant obtained by the
New York Times.
Investigators focused on the possibility that the mayor’s campaign kicked back benefits to employees at a Brooklyn construction company with ties to Turkey and to Turkish officials. Agents seized three iPhones and two laptop computers, along with materials agents described as “manila folder labeled Eric Adams,” seven “contribution card binders” and other materials, per the document.
Law enforcement officials who are familiar with the search warrants told
CNN the investigators are seeking evidence that foreign nationals – who are barred from making contributions – may have “bundled” donations by going into New York’s Turkish-American communities and getting US Citizens of Turkish origin to act as “straw contributors.”
The alleged scheme would have allowed money coming from foreign business entities to be masked as donations from American citizens who did not actually donate the money.
Adams has openly bragged about his ties to the city’s Turkish American community. He recently held a flag raising ceremony in Lower Manhattan noting he had visited the country at least six or seven times.
“I’m probably the only mayor in the history of this city that has not only visited Turkey once, but I think I’m on my sixth or seventh visit to Turkey,” Adams said last week.
As Brooklyn Borough President, Adams traveled at least twice to Turkey, where he signed a sister city agreement with Istanbul’s Üsküdar district in August 2015. That trip was paid for by the Turkish Consulate; an organization called the World Tourism Foundation covered the expense of the other.
“This visit,” Adams said in a press release at the time, “underscores the deep importance of our own Turkish community and their contributions to our One Brooklyn family.”
His mayoral campaign received a financial boost after the visit to Turkey. Turkish American supporters hosted a fundraiser for Adams in July 2018 at Ali Baba Turkish Restaurant in the Kips Bay section of Manhattan.
