NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ Phones Seized By the FBI In Corruption Probe

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New York Mayor Eric Adams (D) had his phones seized by the FBI, the federal agency investigating whether his 2021 campaign conspired with a foreign government for profit, sources told The New York Times.

In addition to taking “at least” two cell phones belonging to the mayor, federal agents also retrieved his iPad, the sources said. News of the confiscation came just days after the FBI raided the home of Adams’ chief fundraiser.

On Nov. 2, agents seized two laptop computers, three iPhones, and a manila folder labeled with the mayor’s name from the home of chief fundraiser Brianna Suggs, according to The Times. She has not spoken out publicly about the raid.

News of the raid prompted Adams to abruptly return to New York City from Washington, D.C., where he had been meeting with congressional leaders about New York’s migrant crisis. Adams said he returned to be “present for his team,” because Suggs had undergone a “traumatic experience,” The Times reported, adding:

The warrant, reviewed by The New York Times, indicated authorities were looking at whether the Turkish government or Turkish nationals funneled donations to Mr. Adams using a so-called straw donor scheme, in which the contributors listed were not the actual source of the money. The warrant also inquired about Mr. Adams’s campaign’s use of New York City’s generous public matching program, in which New York City offers an eight-to-one match of the first $250 of a resident’s donation.

The federal authorities also sought evidence of whether any Adams campaign member provided any benefit to Turkey or the construction company in exchange for campaign donations.

The Times reported that the latest action “appeared to be a dramatic escalation of the federal corruption investigation into whether his 2021 campaign conspired with the Turkish government and others to funnel money into its coffers, two people with knowledge of the matter said.”

The electronics were returned to Adams “within a matter of days,” The Times noted, adding, “Law enforcement investigators with a search warrant can make copies of the data on devices after they seize them.”

Although a spokesman for Adams hasn’t commented on the seizure, Adams himself “laughed at the notion that he had any potential criminal exposure,” shortly after the Suggs raid. Also declining to comment, spokesmen for the F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York.