FBI agents seized electronic devices belonging to New York City Mayor Eric Adams earlier this week as part of a federal investigation examining potential illegal collaboration between Adams’s 2021 campaign, the Turkish government, and other entities in channeling funds into the campaign’s coffers, the New York Times reports.

The agents, executing a court-authorized warrant, approached Mayor Adams on the street, asking his security detail to step aside before accompanying him into his SUV to seize at least two cellphones and an iPad. These devices were returned to Mayor Adams within days, with law enforcement having the capability to copy data from seized devices.

Although the exact reasons for confiscating Adams’s devices remain unclear, the incident marks the first direct connection of the mayor to the ongoing investigation into his campaign’s fundraising activities.

Responding to these developments, Adams, a former police captain, brushed off any potential criminal implications, emphasizing his commitment to lawful conduct.

The investigation first came to public attention on November 2 when FBI agents searched the home of Adams’s chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, and seized various electronic devices and documents. Mayor Adams abruptly returned from Washington, D.C., where he was attending meetings about the migrant crisis.

The search warrant for Suggs’s home sought evidence of a conspiracy involving Adams’s campaign, the Turkish government or nationals, and KSK Construction, a Brooklyn-based developer with Turkish origins. It also explored possible violations of campaign finance law through a straw donor scheme and the misuse of New York City’s public matching funds program.

This is not the first instance of legal scrutiny surrounding Mayor Adams or his associates. Eric Ulrich, a former senior adviser, and others connected to Adams have faced legal charges, including bribery and conspiracy.

Mayor Adams has faced other legal challenges in his career, including an investigation into his fundraising activities as Brooklyn borough president and his interactions with lobbyists during his tenure as a state senator. However, he has consistently denied any wrongdoing, attributing some of the scrutiny to racial bias.

The current investigation mirrors past federal probes into mayoral fundraising, notably the examination of former Mayor Bill de Blasio’s fundraising activities. While charges were not brought against de Blasio, he did receive a warning from the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board. Mayor Adams’s situation now adds to the history of New York City mayors facing federal scrutiny over their fundraising practices.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)