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The FBI is investigating New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign. The feds have already raided the home of Brianna Suggs, his chief fundraiser.
According to what law enforcement officials have told CNN, this is all “part of an investigation to determine if Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign conspired with a Brooklyn-based construction company to funnel foreign money into the campaign coffers.”
Foreign nationals are not allowed to make contributions. Investigators are searching for evidence of a workaround. They believe the campaign obtained “bundled” donations “by going into New York’s Turkish-American communities and getting US Citizens of Turkish origin to act as ‘straw contributors.’”
Adams left Washington, D.C. abruptly on Thursday to return to New York City. At an event later that night, Adams responded, stating “I hold my campaign to the highest ethical standards.”
“Any inquiry that is done, we are going to fully participate and make sure that it’s done correctly. I have not been contacted by anyone from any law enforcement agency. And that’s why I came back from D.C. to be here, to be on the ground and look at this inquiry as it was made,” avowed Adams.
Although the Mayor has not yet been implicated or charged with corruption, “a broad public corruption investigation involving his chief fund-raiser and his 2021 campaign has drawn the mayor even closer to the edge,” The New York Times reports.
Some pundits are criticizing Adams for leaving the nation’s capital. They believe the investigation is distracting the mayor from dealing with the ongoing migrant crisis.
Political science professor and City College of New York fellow Christina Greer said, “The timing is not great for the mayor because he’s been very clear that the city needs a lot more funding from the federal government.”
“This was an opportunity for him, literally and symbolically, to be in Washington with his tin can demanding more funds for New York,” Greer continued.
State Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn has come to Adams’ defense, saying “I’m concerned about whether these investigations are just targeting him because he’s a Black mayor…You have people who try to take people down who are really trying to help the city.”
Hermelyn was adamant, “I’m not concerned about any wrongdoing on his part.”
But this isn’t the first times Adams has been associated with an ethical quandary. When he was Brooklyn borough president, Adams reportedly “took money from developers who lobbied him or won his recommendations for crucial zoning changes.”
In addition, during his tenure as a state senator, another scandal ensued “after his committee helped choose a purveyor of video-lottery machines at Aqueduct Racetrack.”
How will this latest hit impact Adams’ political career? “The question remains: How much corruption is too much corruption for New Yorkers?” said Greer. “I don’t know if New Yorkers will view this as a witch hunt, the inevitable or something to be concerned about.”
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