FBI agents seized New York mayor's electronic devices

[November 11, 2023]  NEW YORK (Reuters) -FBI agents seized electronic devices from New York City Mayor Eric Adams earlier this week, days after a raid on the home of his chief campaign fundraiser, according to an attorney for the mayor's campaign.

Federal authorities are conducting an investigation into whether his 2021 mayoral campaign conspired with a Brooklyn construction company and the Turkish government to funnel foreign money into the campaign through a straw donor scheme, the New York Times has reported.

Boyd Johnson, an attorney for Adams' campaign, confirmed on Friday that Adams had provided the FBI with electronic devices after agents approached the mayor following an event on Monday night.

Johnson said the FBI requested the devices after Adams informed investigators of impropriety by an unidentified individual.

"After learning of the federal investigation, it was discovered that an individual had recently acted improperly. In the spirit of transparency and cooperation, this behavior was immediately and proactively reported to investigators," Johnson said in a statement.

"The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing and continues to cooperate with the investigation," the statement said.

The FBI declined to comment.

The devices seized from the mayor - at least two cellphones and an iPad - were returned within a matter of days, the Times said.

Johnson did not provide details about the type or quantity of devices seized.

FBI agents had searched the home of Adams' chief election campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, on Nov. 2, and she was questioned by public corruption investigators, city officials and local media said.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams listens as he and Ecuadorian Minister for Foreign Affairs and Human Mobility Gustavo Manrique (not pictured) deliver a statement following a meeting in Quito, Ecuador October 6, 2023. REUTERS/Karen Toro/File Photo

Law enforcement officials have investigated several other associates of Adams in recent months. In July, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the indictment of six people he said had used a straw donor scheme to illegally generate public matching funds for Adams' 2021 election campaign. All six men have pleaded not guilty.

Adams, who was not accused of any wrongdoing in the indictments, has said he and his campaign team had no knowledge of or involvement in the alleged scheme.

Adams' 2025 election campaign has paid Suggs's consulting firm, Suggs Solutions, about $98,000 so far, public records show.

Suggs has worked for Adams since starting out in 2017 as an intern in his office when he was the Brooklyn borough president, according to her profile on the LinkedIn social media network.

While raising donations for Adams' election campaign, Suggs had also been paid to lobby his administration on behalf of a Manhattan property owner seeking an extension on his lease of a shopping complex in a city-owned building, the New York Daily News reported in April.

Adams, a Democrat, had traveled to Washington on Nov. 2 for meetings with U.S. government officials about the city's shelter crisis for asylum seekers and other recently arrived migrants, but abruptly canceled those meetings to return to New York.

(Reporting by Julia Harte in New York and Jasper Ward in Washington; editing by Diane Craft)

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