Federal prosecutors recently issued subpoenas to Mayor Eric Adams, his campaign arm and City Hall in a probe into the Democrat’s 2021 run, a new escalation in the ongoing investigation.
City Hall confirmed Thursday night that the administration received a subpoena in July, and attorneys representing the mayor and his campaign said in a statement that they were “in the process of responding” to subpoenas. “We have not identified any evidence of illegal conduct by the mayor,” added the attorneys, Boyd Johnson and Brendan McGuire.
The subpoenas requested information about the mayor’s schedule, his overseas travel and potential connections to the Turkish government, according to a person with knowledge of the subpoenas. The person could not publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
But the full scope of the investigation remains unclear, as does its time frame. City Hall lawyer Lisa Zornberg said Friday that she didn’t know of anyone testifying before a grand jury in the matter.
Adams, a retired police captain, said Friday that he had done nothing wrong and reiterated that he and his team are cooperating with the inquiry.
“I complied with the rules of the city and state of New York and our federal rules,” he said at a City Hall news conference about a new tentative contract for probation officers.
Boyd and Johnson said in their statement that they had given federal prosecutors “extensive evidence undermining the reported theories of federal prosecution as to the mayor.”
The FBI and federal prosecutors declined to comment.
The subpoenas, first reported by The New York Times, are the latest development in a probe that has cast a cloud over the leader of America’s most populous city.
The investigation surfaced publicly in November, when Adams’ phones and electronic tablet were seized and agents raided the home of a top fundraiser. The news of the federal subpoenas comes days before Adams is set to attend next week’s Democratic National Convention.
Prosecutors have been mum about the investigation, but The Times reported in November that it had obtained a search warrant indicating that investigators were eyeing, among other things, whether the Adams campaign conspired with the Turkish government to receive donations from foreign sources, funneled through straw donors.
The newspaper said the search warrant also requested information about Adams’ use of New York City’s matching funds program, which provides candidates with an eightfold match of a city resident’s first donations.
Adams has said he had “no knowledge, direct or otherwise, of any improper fundraising activity.”
Neither City Hall nor the mayor’s attorneys would say more about the subpoenas, including what they seek.
The Times and other news outlets have reported that the investigation also is examining whether Adams — while in a different city office — inappropriately tried to help the Turkish government get city approval to open a Manhattan building housing diplomatic facilities in 2021, despite concerns about the skyscraper’s fire safety systems.
Adams was then Brooklyn’s borough president, an official with limited power over city government. But he was the Democratic nominee for mayor and widely expected to win.
Adams has said he contacted the then-fire commissioner “to find out what was happening” but didn’t order the official to do anything. Adams has insisted he was simply fulfilling his duty as an elected official to help constituents, such as those of Turkish descent, navigate city government.
The former fire commissioner and the Turkish consulate have not commented. The Associated Press left email and voicemail messages with the consulate on Friday.
