Mayor Adams is fielding more questions about the FBI raid at one of his top campaign fundraisers. News 4’s Melissa Russo reports.
What to Know
- The FBI searched a house in Brooklyn belonging to a chief fundraiser for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to sources familiar with the matter, in what appears to be a campaign finance-related investigation
- Neighbors and city records indicated the home belongs to Adams' chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. Adams said Thursday evening he has not been contacted by investigators about the case and will comply with the inquiry
- Sources familiar with the matter told NBC New York that the search was related in part to questions about campaign fundraising. “I am outraged and angry if anyone attempted to use the campaign to manipulate our democracy and defraud our campaign," Adams said Friday
New York City Mayor Eric Adams responded again on Friday to a federal law enforcement search of his chief fundraiser's house in what appears to be a campaign finance-related investigation.
The search was conducted just before noon at a home on Lincoln Place near Brooklyn Avenue in Crown Heights. An FBI spokesperson confirmed agents were engaging in law enforcement activity at the brownstone, but did not share any further details on the matter.
Neighbors and city records indicated the home belongs to Adams' chief fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. The FBI did not comment on who owns the house or on anything regarding the search warrant. Agents — some dressed in suits, others in tactical gear — lugged boxes of evidence from the home to a minivan outside.
It was not immediately clear whether Suggs was the target of an investigation, though sources familiar with the matter told NBC New York that the search was related in part to questions about campaign fundraising. Calls and texts to the number listed on Suggs' website were not returned.
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“I am outraged and angry if anyone attempted to use the campaign to manipulate our democracy and defraud our campaign," Adams said in a statement Friday. "I want to be clear, I have no knowledge, direct or otherwise, of any improper fundraising activity—and certainly not of any foreign money. We will of course work with officials to respond to inquiries, as appropriate—as we always have.”
The search was carried out as Adams abruptly ended his trip to Washington, D.C. Thursday morning, when he was scheduled to meet with the Biden administration regarding the ongoing migrant crisis. He and mayors from other major U.S. cities were set to meet with senior White House officials and members of the U.S. House and Senate.
The mayor said Thursday night that he was not contacted by any investigators about the case.
"Listen everyone knows me, I comply with the rules. We're gonna comply with the inquiry and we will always do that. That is what we do," Adams told supporters at an event Thursday night.
In an exclusive interview with NBC New York on Wednesday, Adams said he and the mayors of Chicago, Denver Houston and Los Angeles would meet with federal lawmakers to help them develop a plan to manage the surge of migrants they say are arriving with little to no coordination, support or resources from President Joe Biden's administration.
But shortly after arriving in the nation’s capital on Thursday, Adams got back on a plane and returned to NYC to "address a matter," a spokesperson for the mayor’s office told NBC New York. In a later statement, Deputy Mayor Fabien Levy confirmed that the mayor bailed on his D.C. and White House plans in order to "get back to New York as quickly as possible" after learning of what was going down.
"The mayor heard of an issue related to the campaign, and takes these issues seriously," Levy said, adding that Adams planned to go back to D.C. and reschedule the meetings "as quickly as possible."
"When you have something that took place like that, an inquiry with a campaign member, I think it was important for me to come back," Adams told NBC New York Thursday night.
A lawyer for the Adams' 2021 campaign said the campaign began a "extensive review of all documents and actions by campaign workers connected to the contributors in question.”
Suggs did not immediately respond to a request for comment from NBC New York. She has been a campaign consultant to Adams who raised money for his election effort and also lobbied his administration on behalf of corporate clients.
Suggs has worked closely with Adams since at least 2017, when he was Brooklyn borough president. She later joined his mayoral campaign, helping to raise more than $18.4 million for his primary and general elections, according to her LinkedIn profile.
She has continued to solicit donations for his reelection bid, which has already raised more than $2 million less than halfway into his term. Records show Suggs simultaneously started her own lobbying firm in 2022. Her clients have included real estate interests with business before the city, including a Chinatown mall that was seeking a lease renewal.
Her dual efforts as fundraiser and lobbying have drawn scrutiny from good government groups, the New York Daily News reported, though she has denied wrongdoing.
"As an attorney who has practiced criminal defense for a large part of my career l, I always respect the sanctity of that part our judicial system which presumes all innocent," Adams Campaign Chair Frank Carone told NBC New York in a statement. "Here, it is even more profound for me since I know Brianna personally, watched her mature into the incredibly effective professional that she has become, and have full confidence she has comported herself (like the entire campaign) at the highest level both ethically and legally. "
Campaign filings showed numerous donations to Adams from Suggs family members who live in the home that was searched. Suggs was said to share the home with her father and grandmother, and neighbors said she grew up on the block.
While law enforcement officials did not detail what the FBI search was related to, generally the kind of activity seen at the house would indicate a court-authorized search warrant was being executed.
NBC New York also learned that investigators visited a Williamsburg building on Thursday in search of information, talking to construction company. Campaign finance records showed at least 11 Adams donors worked at the business. A woman who answered the phone confirmed law enforcement had visited, but made no comment beyond that.
There was no indication yet that Adams himself was directly connected to any investigation. In a statement, a lawyer for Adams, Vito Pitta, said the mayor “will of course comply with any inquiries, as appropriate,” adding that the campaign “has always held itself to the highest standards.”
There have been no arrests made in connection with the search or the federal investigation, which appeared to be in its very early stages. It was not clear if the probe had any relation to an investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
A spokesperson for the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan, Nicholas Biase, declined to comment.
The raid comes less four months after six people were charged in a straw donor conspiracy scheme to divert tens of thousands of dollars to Adams’ campaign. Those charges were filed in state court, and did not directly implicate the mayor.
A straw donor scheme is essentially a way to get around campaign contribution limits by falsely using names of friends and relatives as the donors.
That case resulted in two guilty pleas from construction company owners who admitted to taking part in a conspiracy that generated the phony donations to Adams' 2021 campaign. The Adams team has denied knowledge of the alleged straw donor scheme and was said not to be a target of the investigation. It was not clear if Thursday's search had anything to do with the other investigation.
The former city buildings commissioner under Adams, Eric Ulrich, was also charged in September with using his position to dole out favors, including access to the mayor, in exchange for cash and other bribes. Ulrich and his six co-defendants have pleaded not guilty.
Jake Offenhartz and Michael Balsamo of the Associated Press contributed to this report.
