New York City Mayor Eric Adams had his cell phone seized by FBI agents in relation to the corruption probe regarding donations to his campaign, RadarOnline.com has learned.
According to reporting from the New York Times, sources said the mayor had “at least” two cell phones seized, as well as an iPad.
The report followed a raid at the Brooklyn home of one of Adams’ top donors, Brianna Suggs, who is at the center of an alleged straw donor scheme with the Turkish government and others.
During the raid at Suggs’ home, federal agents confiscated three iPhones, two laptops and a manilla folder branded with the mayor’s name.
While Suggs did not publicly comment on the incident, Adams “laughed at the notion that he had any potential criminal exposure.”
Following the raid, Adams abruptly left Washington D.C. and returned to the Big Apple. The Democrat leader said he decided to leave D.C., where he was meeting with congressional members to discuss NYC’s migrant crisis, so that he could be “present for his team” after Suggs’ so-called “traumatic experience.”
The outlet described federal agents seizing Adams’ electronics a “dramatic escalation” in their investigation into his campaign finances.
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Adams’ cell phones were reportedly returned “within a matter of days.”
Regarding the swift return of the Democrat mayor‘s electronics, the report noted, “Law enforcement investigators with a search warrant can make copies of the data on devices after they seize them.”
Investigators reportedly “sought evidence of whether any Adams campaign member provided any benefit to Turkey or the construction company in exchange for campaign donations.”
According to the report, the warrant, which was reviewed by the outlet, “indicated authorities were looking at whether the Turkish government or Turkish nationals funneled donations to Mr. Adams using a so-called straw donor scheme, in which the contributors listed were not the actual source of the money.”
Additionally, the warrant “also inquired about Mr. Adams’s campaign’s use of New York City’s generous public matching program, in which New York City offers an eight-to-one match of the first $250 of a resident’s donation.”