Federal agents searched New York City Mayor Eric Adams‘s official residence, Gracie Mansion, early Thursday morning. The operation occurred just hours before the indictment against the Democratic Party politician was unsealed.
Mayor Adams’s attorney, Alex Spiro, stated that agents arrived at 6 AM to retrieve the mayor’s phone, which had already been seized once during the investigation late last year. Meanwhile, the unsealed indictment against Adams reveals the New York City mayor faces five counts ranging from wire fraud to bribery to accepting campaign donations from a foreign national.
The indictment alleges that Adams knowingly solicited campaign contributions from Turkish foreign nationals beginning in 2018 in the lead-up to his 2021 run for mayor. Federal prosecutors further allege that Adams and his campaign conspired to hide the illegal contributions through straw donors and fake paper trails, concealing the criminal activity. In exchange for financial support from representatives of the Turkish government, Adams pressured officials in the Fire Department of New York (FDNY) to approve Turkey’s consulate building in Manhattan despite safety issues.
