Over two weeks this month, the FBI raided the home of Mayor Adams’ top campaign fundraiser and then seized his electronic devices, as a federal corruption inquiry into possible misconduct by his 2021 mayoral campaign spilled into public view.
The FBI investigation appears focused on links between Turkey and the Adams campaign, a country with which the mayor has long fostered close ties. The New York Times, which obtained portions of the search warrant in the raid of the fundraiser’s home, reported that the FBI was investigating whether Adams’ campaign conspired with Turkey’s government to pocket illicit overseas donations.
Adams, a first-term Democrat, and the fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, 25, have not been accused of wrongdoing.
New York City mayors have often found themselves caught up in corruption investigations. In this case, the publicly surfaced details of the inquiry into Adams’ campaign and the disclosure that the FBI seized the mayor’s devices have put questions about Turkey and its connection to New York City at the center of local politics.
“We are fully cooperating,” the mayor said at a news conference last week, referring to the FBI. “My role is to allow them to do their job without interference, and I have to do my job of continuing to make sure the city navigates the various issues that we are facing.”
Adams’ lawyer Boyd Johnson acknowledged that an unnamed individual acted “improperly.” The person has been placed on leave, according to City Hall.
NYC.gov
Rana Abbasova.
On Wednesday, the Daily News reported that the individual is Rana Abbasova, a staffer in the mayor’s International Affairs Office.
Many details related to the inquiry remain unknown at this point. Here’s a look at key recent events, and what is known so far.
Nov. 2: The day the news broke
On Nov. 2, the mayor flew to Washington, D.C., for meetings with the White House on the migrant crisis, which he has described as the most pressing issue facing the city. But almost as soon as he had arrived in the nation’s capital, he turned around and headed back to New York to address what his office characterized as a “matter.”
That morning, FBI agents had raided the Crown Heights, Brooklyn, home of Suggs, who has claimed credit for raising $18 million for Adams in the 2021 election cycle. The Suggs raid was reportedly not the only location the feds hit that day; CNN reported that about 100 FBI agents carried out searches or interviews at a dozen locations early that morning.
At Suggs’ home, agents took cell phones, an iPad and envelopes filled with documents, according to CNN. A neighbor said he saw FBI agents questioning Suggs and her father on her stoop during the raid.
According to a bombshell search warrant reported by The New York Times, the raid on Suggs’ townhouse home is part of a federal public corruption investigation into whether Adams’ 2021 campaign conspired with the Turkish government and a Brooklyn construction firm to funnel foreign cash into the campaign’s coffers via straw donors.
The warrant reportedly sought evidence of a conspiracy to steal federal funds and make illegal campaign donations with foreign money and fraud, and whether Adams’ campaign secured perks for Turkish government officials and executives at the construction company, a Williamsburg-based outfit called KSK Construction Group.
Eleven employees of KSK, the Brooklyn construction firm listed in the search warrant, donated $13,950 each on the same day in May 2021 to Adams’ campaign, according to city records. Among the KSK employees listed as donating was the firm’s owner, Erden Arkan, who states on his LinkedIn profile that he received his education a Istanbul University in Turkey. Executives at the company appear to have close ties to one of Turkey’s largest political parties.
The FBI also searched Abbasova’s home, in New Jersey, and the home of Cenk Öcal, a one-time Turkish Airlines executive who worked on Adams’ transition team, according to the Times.
Evan Thies, a spokesman for Adams, said Friday that Suggs continues to work for the mayor’s 2025 campaign.
Suggs and Öcal could not be reached for comment.
An email reply from Abbasova on Friday said, “I am out of the office with no access to email.”
The mayor’s phones
As Adams was leaving an event on the night of Nov. 6, the FBI approached him and requested that he hand over electronic devices, according to a statement from the mayor’s lawyer. The FBI took at least two phones from the mayor, and returned them within days, according to a person with knowledge of the action.
Following that seizure, it emerged Adams had made an inquiry to the Fire Department regarding permitting for the new Turkish Consulate tower in Manhattan in 2021, when Adams was the Democratic nominee for mayor. Adams has acknowledged that he reached out to the then-fire commissioner, Daniel Nigro, about concerns that the building would not be open in time for the United Nations General Assembly at the end of summer 2021.
The mayor has presented his outreach to the Fire Department as constituent services. He has suggested he asked the FDNY to look into the matter, but did not direct the department to do anything.
“I had no authority to do so,” Adams said Tuesday. “I was the [Brooklyn] borough president.”
The building was granted a temporary certificate of occupancy that allowed it to open.
An FDNY chief involved in that process said he felt he would lose his job if he didn’t press for approval of an inspection at the new building even though the fire safety system wasn’t functioning. FDNY Chief Joseph Jardin, who is suing the FDNY, has been questioned by FBI investigators looking into allegations that the Turkish government funneled illegal foreign cash into the mayor’s campaign coffers in 2021, sources said.
Jardin was also questioned about a list of real estate developers City Hall allegedly wanted to fast-track through the FDNY’s fire safety inspection process. The list — known as the “DMO list” because it fell under the purview of the deputy mayor of operations — “became a mechanism to press the FDNY to permit politically connected developers to cut the inspection line,” according to Jardin’s lawsuit.
The list reportedly dated at least to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration. De Blasio declined to comment.
Adams had held a lengthy news conference on Nov. 8, two days after the seizure, but the incident did not come up. News that the FBI had taken Adams’ devices did not emerge publicly until Nov. 10, when the Times reported the seizure.
Adams has defended not immediately disclosing the seizure to the news media.
“My information was completely accurate,” Adams said Tuesday. “As a former member of law enforcement, it is always my belief: Don’t interfere with an ongoing review, and don’t try to do these reviews through the press.”
Adams and Turkey: Multiple ties
Adams has long touted his ties to Turkey. In 2015, Turkey’s government paid thousands of dollars for Adams to visit Istanbul and a Syrian refugee camp. The aim of the trip was to further relations on commerce and culture, according to a statement Adams issued in August 2015.
At the time, Adams was Brooklyn’s borough president.
Last year, Adams said he had visited Turkey about six times, expressing admiration for the country’s spirit and history. Overall, Adams attended nearly 80 events celebrating Turkey during his time as Brooklyn’s borough president, according to Politico.
Adams has traveled widely as a public official. And as mayor he has brought unique zest to flag raisings for dozens of countries, hailing New York’s status as a global city.
Tim Balk
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