November 9, 2024

NYC Mayor Eric Adams hit with first subpoena over 2021 campaign finances: report

In an ongoing corruption investigation, federal prosecutors have issued a series of subpoenas focused on New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ election campaign in 2021.

According to the New York Times, citing four people with knowledge of the matter, the series of subpoenas were issued to Adams, City Hall and to his election committee.

The subpoenas, which were issued in July, requested text messages, other communications and documents from the mayor and the election capping officials.

The outlet said that the subpoenas also requested information on Adams’ travel arrangements to China and campaign fundraising. 

FBI PROBES NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS’ USE OF PRIVATE EMAIL ADDRESSES, TRIPS TO CHINA: REPORT

Adams at press conference

Mayor Eric Adams makes public safety and quality-of-life-related announcement at 14th Street Y.  (Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images)

In a statement to Fox News, Adams’ office said that the mayor has fully cooperated with the ongoing investigation.

“As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has been clear over that last nine months that he will cooperate with any investigation underway,” Fabien Levy, the deputy mayor for communications, said. “Nothing has changed. He expects everyone to cooperate to swiftly bring this investigation to a close.”

FBI PROBES IF NYC MAYOR ERIC ADAMS RECEIVED UPGRADED TURKISH AIRLINES TICKETS IN EXCHANGE FOR FAVORS: REPORT

Adams’ attorneys, in a statement to Fox News, said that they have investigated and evaluated the mayor’s campaign documents, electronic communication and witness interviews.

“Over the past nine months, we have conducted our own investigation of the areas we understand the U.S. Attorney’s Office has been reviewing. Our investigation has included an evaluation of campaign documents, an analysis of tens of thousands of electronic communications, and witness interviews,” Brendan McGuire and Boyd Johnson III said.

“To be clear, we have not identified any evidence of illegal conduct by the Mayor,” they said. “To the contrary, we have identified extensive evidence undermining the reported theories of federal prosecution as to the Mayor, which we have voluntarily shared with the U.S. Attorney.  We continue to cooperate with the investigation and are in the process of responding to the recently issued subpoenas.  We continue to look forward to a prompt and just resolution of this investigation.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams

New York City Mayor Eric Adams holds a press conference at City Hall in June in New York City.  (Adam Gray/Getty Images)

The subpoenas are the next step in an ongoing investigation into Adams’ use of a private email addresses and how records from seven trips he made to China have disappeared.

The New York Post, citing a source close to the probe, said the prominent NYC mayor used three private email addresses to arrange his dealings in China on his seven trips to the foreign country.

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At least one of the trips, per the outlet, was partly funded by the Chinese Communist Party.

The private email accounts cannot be traced on New York City government servers, meaning that key details, such as who paid for the trips and with whom he met, remain concealed.

Mayor Adams

Mayor Eric Adams in Brooklyn on April 5, 2024.  (Theodore Parisienne for New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Last year, federal investigators quietly seized the mayor’s cellphones and an iPad as he was leaving an event in Manhattan.

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The initial probe is believed to be focused, at least in part, on whether the Adams campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive illegal campaign contributions from foreign sources, funneled through straw donors, according to a warrant reported on by the New York Times.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the FBI for comment.