The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is investigating whether the Turkish government benefited from campaign donations Eric Adams’ 2021 New York City mayoral race, sources reported.
According to sources close to the matter, The Turkish authorities requested help from the then New York candidate in September 2021 to keep the Turkevi Center open.new 35-story headquarters of the Turkish Embassy on the east side.
By that time, Adams had won the Democratic primary, but had not yet been elected as the city’s mayor.
The building was awaiting temporary occupancy approval from the New York Fire Department. (FDNY), before its inauguration scheduled for the end of September of that year.
It’s a statement, Adams attributed this to voter services.
“As county president, Part of my routine role was to notify government agencies of issues on behalf of voters and constituencies.. “I have not been accused of wrongdoing and will continue to cooperate with investigators,” the mayor’s statement read.
According to sources, The now mayor received a text message from a Turkish official asking him if he knew the then FDNY commissioner, Daniel Nigro. They also say the Democrat contacted Nigro about the case, but it was not immediately clear if he asked or ordered him to do anything about it.
Nigro responded that the building would receive the necessary certification in time for its inauguration on September 20.. Led by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was in town for a United Nations General Assembly.
For her part, the main advisor of the City Council, Lisa Zornberg said in a statement that the mayor and the team continue to collaborate with detectives.
“We hope that investigators continue to cooperate with us and reprimand any federal officials who improperly leaked details about this investigationas such conduct could harm the public and undermine the integrity of our law enforcement process,” the statement said.
This occurs after The FBI will confiscate Adams’ electronic devices, including two phones and an iPad.in an apparent recovery of data from text message exchanges from September 2021.
The Democratic mayor confirmed Friday that the FBI took his phone at the eventreported ABC 7 NY.
“As a former member of law enforcement, I hope that all members of my staff comply with the law and cooperate fully with any type of investigation and I will continue to do exactly that. “I have nothing to hide,” Adams said.
In this sense, Boyd Johnson, a campaign lawyer, said that Adams handed over his devices after learning that “an individual had recently acted inappropriately.”
“In the interest of transparency and cooperation, this behavior was immediately and proactively reported to investigators.“Johnson said, emphasizing that “the mayor has not been accused of any crime and continues to cooperate with the investigation.”
In the FBI investigations it is investigating to KSK Construction and whether the Williamsburg company, owned by Turkish migrants, was improperly directing Turkish money toward Adams’ 2021 election campaign.
“I am outraged and angry if someone tried to use the campaign to manipulate our democracy and defraud our campaign“Adams said in a statement last week.
“I want to be clear: I am not aware, direct or otherwise, of any improper fundraising activity and certainly not of any foreign money. “We will of course work with officials to respond to queries, as appropriately as we always have.”
In July, Four people were accused of participating in a scheme to raise money through donations from front men for the Democrat’s campaign. The defendants tried at that time to pressure the mayor’s office to request construction work.
Adams was not charged and a campaign representative said “we would never tolerate these actions.”
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2023-11-13 15:59:22
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