FBI seized three iPhones, two laptops and manila folder labeled 'Eric Adams' from home of NYC mayor's fundraising chief - amid probes into cash from the Turkish government | Daily Mail Online
By: Harriet Alexander (Mail Online)
Dirty money??
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The FBI seized iPhones, laptops, paperwork and a manila folder labeled 'Eric Adams' from the home of the mayor's top fundraiser, it has emerged.
The Brooklyn house was raided on Thursday morning as part of an investigation into an alleged kickback scheme involving the Turkish government, a university in Washington DC, and a Brooklyn construction company.
Brianna Suggs' house in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn was searched while Adams was on his way to meetings in Washington DC, forcing him to abruptly cancel and return to 'deal with a matter'. The timing was deliberate, sources said.
The agents seized three iPhones, two laptop computers, papers and a 'manila folder labeled Eric Adams,' The New York Times reported.
They also took seven 'contribution card binders'.
Agents searched the home of Brianna Suggs (left), a campaign consultant who has helped Adams (right) raise $2.5million for his 2025 election
Agents in FBI vests were among those who removed boxes from the home
The search warrant, the paper said, sought financial records for Suggs, 25, and any entity controlled or associated with her; and documents related to contributions to the mayor's 2021 campaign.
The agents also wanted records of travel to Turkey by any employee, officer or associate of the campaign; and documents related to interactions between the campaign and the government of Turkey, 'including persons acting at the behest of the Turkish government.'
The team were looking for documents relating to Bay Atlantic University, a small Turkish-owned institution that opened in Washington DC in 2014.
Adams in 2015 visited one of the school's sister universities in Istanbul, where he was given various certificates and was told that a scholarship would be created in his name.
Adams has boasted about how much he loves Turkey, and last week he hosted a flag-raising for Turkey in Lower Manhattan.
'I think I'm on my sixth or seventh visit,' he said, adding that no other mayor in New York history was as close to the country as he was.
The mayor on Thursday said he would cooperate with the investigation.
He told ABC News: 'I feel extremely comfortable about how I comply with rules and procedures.
'I hold myself to a high standard, and I hold my campaign to a high standard, and I hold my staff at City Hall to a high standard.
'I'm very clear that it is my responsibility to hold myself to a high standard and I will comply with any inquiry that is made and I am demanding that my team do the same.'
There was no indication that the investigation was targeting the mayor, and he is not accused of wrongdoing.
Adams told an audience at Gracie Mansion on Thursday night he had not been contacted by any law enforcement officials.
Authorities are investigating whether the campaign conspired with a Brooklyn construction company and the Turkish government to funnel foreign money into the campaign's coffers, apparently through a straw donor scheme.
The construction company was identified in the warrant as KSK Construction Group in Brooklyn, the paper said, and employees of KSK donated nearly $14,000 to Adams's 2021 campaign, according to campaign finance records.
Some of the agents present belong to the public corruption unit, the paper said.
Adams was on his way to DC for meetings to discuss the city's migrant crisis when he learned of the raid.
He had filmed a video of himself on a plane on his way there on Thursday morning.
Without explanation, he returned to New York City while other city mayors stayed in DC for the talks.
The warrant was for evidence of the theft of federal funds and conspiracy to steal federal funds; wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy; as well as campaign contributions by foreign nationals and conspiracy to make such contributions, according to The New York Times.
Investigators were reportedly interested in whether the campaign channeled benefits to the construction company's officials and employees, and to Turkish officials.
Vito Pitta, a lawyer for Adams's 2021 and 2025 campaigns, said: 'The campaign has always held itself to the highest standards.
'The campaign will of course comply with any inquiries, as appropriate.'
Pitta added: 'Mayor Adams has not been contacted as part of this inquiry.'
Neighbors told DailyMail.com the agents arrived at 9am and emerged with boxes.
Agents are shown outside Suggs' house in Crown Heights on Thursday after the raid
They described Suggs as coming from a 'nice family'.
'I know the whole family they are very good people. They're a very good family.
'I saw the FBI on the block and it was scary, it was really scary,' Christopher Kelly Burwell, 54, said.
With Suggs' help, Adams has raised more than $2.5million for his re-election campaign.
The pair have worked together since 2017, when she joined his office of the Brooklyn Borough President to work as an administrative intern.
Suggs was Adams' fundraiser and director of logistics for his successful 2021 mayoral campaign. She now works as a fundraiser for the Kings County Democratic County Committee.
Known as the 'party mayor', Adams' prolific night-owling and appearances at hotspots like expensive members' clubs has left a bitter taste in some mouths.
In 2021, six people were charged with making illegal donations to Adams' first campaign.
Adams was due to be in Washington DC today to meet with officials about the city's migrant crisis. When news of the raid emerged, he returned to NYC abruptly
The men included former police officers who Adams served with in the NYPD. They were charged with using false names to disguise their donations.
Prosecutors claimed they wanted to have influence over the Mayor's Office and potentially win city contracts.
Adams was exonerated and prosecutors said he had no knowledge of the scheme.
Earlier this year, Suggs was criticized for taking donations to Adams' re-election campaign while simultaneously working against him, on behalf of a Manhattan property owner who had business with the city.
Some speculated that the conflict of interest would lead to pay-for-play politics.
'The reason I think it should be illegal is because when people work for you on a campaign you become close, and if that person then lobbies the same [official] she's raising money for, she's going to get preferential treatment … and that means her client gets preferential treatment.
'That just doesn't look good. It doesn't pass the smell test,' Betsy Gotbaum, a city government veteran, told The New York Daily News in April.
A recent report from The City also claims Adams' 2021 campaign repeatedly ignored requests to name donors whose gave more than $300,000.
Their donations, split between 500 donors, utilized a city donation matching program that balloons payments.
No Trump, trolling, fascist crap
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When are politicians going to learn to keep tabs on just where the campaign money comes from..........I know some do as evidenced by some of the cushy jobs the "donors" get in government. In this case, I am sure he wasn't complacent and will be innocent of any wrongdoing.
25 year old overzealous overachiever it seems. She should have learned the rules. And perhaps he should have known better with her age and possible lack of experience.
They hire others to do it like Suggs. The questions here are about her and how she thought taking kickbacks were ok.
This could be a very harsh lesson. There's really no excuse here either. Taking 'kickbacks' from foreign governments isn't 'playing the game'. It's bribery. Even a 25 year old should know better. Perhaps she thought she'd get away with it?
You would think they would. But that falls under common sense. We also know there are some that will give some a pass based in their affiliation.
I thought the FBI was supposed to be the Democrats lapdog.
I guess Adams will learn the lesson to not criticize the Biden immigration policies, this also sends a message to other blue state governors and mayors to shut up and sit down.
Not something we are unfamiliar with.