Mayor Eric Adams, staff members hit with 3 new subpoenas in federal corruption probe
By Dick Brennan
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NEW YORK, New York (WCBS) — There have been significant developments in the corruption investigation into Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 campaign.
CBS News New York has learned that federal prosecutors subpoenaed Adams last month, which could indicate the investigation is far from over.
The three new subpoenas, first reported by the New York Times, come some nine months after CBS News New York first learned an investigation was underway. That’s when agents with a warrant actually stopped the mayor and seized his cellphone.
On Thursday night, the mayor’s office confirmed the new subpoenas and said it expects everyone to cooperate with the investigation.
The mayor, City Hall, and his election committee were hit with the subpoena’s last month. They concern a wide range of information, including travel by the mayor and his aides. It’s believed the feds have been searching for documents, text messages and other materials in the ongoing corruption probe.
“So they’ve been after communications. They’re trying to see who was talking to whom about what, presumably in real time around some other evidence that they have. We don’t know what that may or may not be,” said David Birdsell, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Kean University.
In November of last year, the FBI raided the home of Adams’ then-fundraiser Brianna Suggs. It’s believed the investigation centers around campaign financing.
“We do know that most of this was initiated as part of an investigation into the Turkish government and perhaps improper fundraising, perhaps on the government side, and we’re talking about Turkey now, not the United States and New York, and business interests in Turkey,” Birdsell said.
In a statement, attorneys for the mayor said they’ve conducted their own investigation and, “to be clear, we have not identified any evidence of illegal conduct by the mayor,” adding, “To the contrary, we have identified extensive evidence undermining the reported theories of federal prosecutions as to the mayor, which we have voluntarily shared with the U.S. attorney.”
The mayor’s office issued a statement, saying, “As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has been clear over the last nine months that he will cooperate with any investigation underway. Nothing has changed.”
The statement adds the mayor “expects everyone to cooperate to swiftly bring this investigation to a close.”
Adams said he has carefully followed the law.
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