Feds execute search warrant on new NYPD commissioner just over a week after he was appointed

By Gloria Pazmino, CNN

(CNN) — Federal authorities executed a search warrant at the residences of NYPD interim commissioner Thomas Donlon just over a week after he took on the position, he said in a statement Saturday night.

“On Friday, September 20th, federal authorities executed search warrants at my residences,” Donlon said in a statement. “They took materials that came into my possession approximately 20 years ago and are unrelated to my work with the New York City Police Department.”

Donlon, a former FBI official, added in his statement that the search warrant is not an NYPD matter, and the NYPD will not be commenting on it.

Law enforcement officials say the search warrant is related to documents that the commissioner may have retained from his previous positions. The search warrant is not believed to be related to any of the corruption investigations currently ensnaring City Hall.

What prompted the search so many years after Donlon’s departure from government positions is not clear. A spokesman for the FBI in New York would not comment on the search warrant or whether the documents they were looking for were believed to be classified.

Donlon was appointed as Interim Police Commissioner just over a week ago, after the previous commissioner, Edward Caban, resigned amid an investigation by federal authorities. It marked the first high-profile departure from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration since the start of four separate federal investigations into Adams’ office and the NYPD.

Caban, who had served as commissioner for 13 months, said in a statement at the time: “The news around recent developments has created a distraction for our department, and I am unwilling to let my attention be on anything other than our important work, or the safety of the men and women of the NYPD.”

Caban’s departure came days after it was reported that investigators with the US Attorney’s Office for New York’s Southern District had seized his electronic devices and phones. The investigation involves Caban’s brother and enforcement around nightclubs in New York City, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN.

Several other members of the mayor’s staff are being investigated by the US attorneys in the Eastern and Southern Districts in New York.

“I was as surprised as you to learn of these inquiries and I take them extremely seriously,” Adams said at a news conference earlier this month.

Fabien Levy, spokesperson for Adams, issued a statement Sunday in response to the search warrant. “As we have repeatedly said, we expect all team members to fully comply with any law enforcement inquiry,” Levy said.

Donlon is a former FBI official

Adams appointed Donlon as interim NYPD commissioner on September 12 after addressing Caban’s resignation.

“A short time ago, I accepted the resignation of the NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban,” Adams said at a news conference last week, adding it “was the best decision at this time.”

“I respect his decision and I wish him well,” Adams said.

Adams then announced he was appointing Donlon: “To ensure crime keeps going down in our city today, I’m taking immediate action in appointing Tom Donlon as interim police commissioner.”

“Tom is an experienced law enforcement professional who has worked at the local, state, federal, and international levels,” he said.

Donlon is a former intelligence official who served as New York’s director of the Office of Homeland Security, ran the FBI’s National Threat Center and the FBI and NYPD joint terrorist task force.

“I am honored and humbled to be named interim-Commissioner of the New York City Police Department, the greatest law enforcement agency in the world,” Donlon said in a statement at the time.

“My goals are clear: continue the historic progress decreasing crime and removing illegal guns from our communities, uphold the highest standards of integrity and transparency, and support our dedicated officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe,” Donlon said.

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CNN’s Mark Morales, Brynn Gingras and Sabrina Shulman contributed to this report.