The FBI raided the homes of top aides to New York City Mayor Eric Adams as well as seized the cellphone of the New York Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner as part of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Politico reports.
Authorities arrived at the Manhattan home of the city’s First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, and her partner, Schools Chancellor David Banks, in early September 2024, as well as the home of the deputy mayor for public safety, and David’s brother, Philip Banks in Queens. The homes of Commissioner Edward Caban and Tim Pearson, senior adviser to Adams, were also raided, along with having to give up their cellphones due to a subpoena.
Close to seven other members of the police department had their phones subpoenaed.
While it is unclear the sole reasoning behind the FBI zoning in on Adams and his team, federal investigators have been looking into the mayor’s ties to Turkey as well as a separate investigation into his aide, Winnie Greco. The Turkey probe is targeting alleged involvement in the mayor’s 2021 campaign and collusion with foreign interests, including the Turkish government. The homes of at least two other aides to Adams were raided in November 2023 by the FBI in correlation to the Turkish probe. However, it is unknown if the investigations are tied together.
The mayor himself received a subpoena from a grand jury, resulting in him having to turn over his electronic devices , but they were later returned.
In a statement, Adams’ Chief Counsel Lisa Zornberg said officials haven’t done anything wrong. “Investigators have not indicated to us the mayor or his staff are targets of any investigation,” Zornberg said.
“As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has repeatedly made clear that all members of the team need to follow the law.”
While a person close to Wright said she is confident she has done nothing wrong, David Banks declined to comment when reporters approached him during an appearance in Queens for the first day of school, saying, “Today’s all about the kids.” The NYPD commissioner canceled an appearance that was scheduled for Sept. 5.
According to CBS News , Adams spoke with correspondent Marcia Kramer, insisting his staff would follow the law and cooperate with investigations. “You know, Marcia, I say over and over again, as a former member of law enforcement, I’m very clear. We follow the rules. We make sure that we cooperate and turn over any information that is needed, and it just really would be inappropriate to get in the way of the review while it’s taking place,” Adams said.
“I am not aware of any misdoings, and I’m going to, again, follow the rules, and I will continue to tell the team to do that. And that’s what they have been doing, to my knowledge.”
When Kramer asked the mayor why he thinks they keep targeting him, Adams said he can’t answer that. “Those are questions I can’t answer. I’m going to … I know what I’m going to do, and that is information that’s needed to show that I have always followed the law; we’re going to give that information,” Adams said.
The Democratic mayor and former NYPD police officer is up for reelection in 2025 after serving his first term.
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