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FBI Seized New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s Electronic Devices in Probe
The move escalates a public corruption investigation into his political campaign
By James Fanelli and Erin Ailworth, WSJ
Updated Nov. 10, 2023 6:00 pm ET
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents seized New York City Mayor Eric Adams’s cellphones and iPad earlier this week as a part of a public corruption probe into his political campaign, according to people familiar with the matter.
In a statement Friday, a lawyer for the campaign said Adams’s devices were taken from him after he attended an event on Monday night.
“The Mayor immediately complied with the FBI’s request and provided them with electronic devices,” Boyd Johnson, Adams’s campaign attorney, said in a statement. “The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing and continues to cooperate with the investigation.”
The seizure came about a week after federal agents searched the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, a fundraiser for his campaign, indicating that the federal investigation is intensifying. Johnson said that after the campaign learned of the federal investigation, “it was discovered that an individual had recently acted improperly.” The behavior was reported to investigators, he said, without elaborating on the individual.
Adams, a former NYPD officer, said Friday: “As a former member of law enforcement, I expect all members of my staff to follow the law and fully cooperate with any sort of investigation—and I will continue to do exactly that. I have nothing to hide.”
Some of the electronic devices were returned to Adams, a campaign spokesman said. The campaign expected the rest to be returned as well, the spokesman said.
A spokeswoman for the FBI and a spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office declined to comment.
The New York Times reported earlier Friday that Adams’s electronic devices were seized, and previously reported that a warrant for the Suggs home search indicated authorities were investigating whether Turkish nationals illegally donated to Adams’s campaign using straw donors. Federal election laws prohibit foreign nationals from making contributions in U.S. elections. It is also illegal to make a donation in another individual’s name. The Wall Street Journal hasn’t independently verified the contents of the Suggs search warrant.
Federal agents raided the home of Brianna Suggs in Brooklyn. PHOTO: EDUARDO MUNOZ ALVAREZ/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Facing questions from reporters after the Suggs home search, Adams said Wednesday that he has repeatedly traveled to Turkey in part to attract people and businesses back to the city, which he noted has a large Turkish population.
The mayor said he once spoke to the Turkish president at a nonprofit dinner some time when he was Brooklyn borough president. He held that post before becoming mayor, from 2014 to 2021.
“He greeted me, said hello. We exchanged pleasantries,” Adams said. “I said hello. And that was the extent of our conversation.”
Adams, a Democrat, won election in 2021, beating out a crowded field of contenders. His campaign has already raised $2.5 million donations for his re-election bid in 2025. Suggs worked on his 2021 campaign and has been doing fundraising for his re-election.
Adams said Wednesday that he was notified by his campaign team of the raid on Suggs’s home, which prompted him to return to New York from Washington, where he had planned to meet with White House officials. Adams also said that he did not speak to her that day.
“I did not want to give any appearance of interference,” he said, later adding that he had retained the private law firm WilmerHale and that the lawyers there had been in touch with the agencies handling the inquiry.
Write to James Fanelli at james.fanelli@wsj.com and Erin Ailworth at erin.ailworth@wsj.com