Eric Adams’ Close Ties to Turkey Spark FBI Corruption Probe
Jose Nino
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ close ties to Turkey and the broader Turkish diaspora in the Big Apple has sparked an investigation
by federal investigators in Manhattan, who recently launched a public corruption probe into the Democratic mayor’s political campaign and to figure out if foreign dollars were funneled into his campaign coffers via illegal donations.
Adams pushed back against these allegations.
“We don’t do quid pro quo. We follow the law,” he declared at a city hall press conference on November 13, 2023. He noted that his aides haven’t exchanged political favors for campaign contributions. Nor did his aides engage in a “straw donor” scheme, when an individual donates money in someone else’s name to circumvent campaign-finance limits or skirt eligibility requirements.
As the investigation continues, the mayor and his campaign have yet to be accused of campaign malfeasances.
Investigators are reviewing donations, which include those from a construction firm based in Brooklyn, to figure out if they were illegally funded by Turkish nationals and government officials, per individuals familiar with this case.
The probe recently went public after Federal Bureau of Investigation agents searched the home of Brianna Suggs, who works as a fundraiser for Adams’s campaign. On that same day, agents also conducted a search of the home of a former Turkish Airlines employee as part of the broader probe. Adams revealed that he has frequently flown to Istanbul.
A few days after the search, agents seized some of Adams’s electronic devices, which people familiar with the issue said included correspondence with Turkish Consul General Reyhan Özgür. In early September 2021, Özgür contacted Adams for help in obtaining a temporary certificate of occupancy for the Turkish consulate’s recently constructed Midtown Manhattan building.
Individuals connected to the Turkish government have pitched in thousands to Adams’s campaigns for Brooklyn borough president and mayor. According to the Wall Street Journal, Adams received $2,000 in donations in 2018 and 2019 from a real estate lawyer who served as the legal counsel for the Turkish government as it constructed the new consulate building. Adams paid a visit to the consulate building nn September for an event where Turkish first lady Emine Erdogan was in attendance.
On top of that, Adams received $6,000 in donations from three board members of the Turken Foundation, a non-profit based in New York that is a registered foreign agent of a Turkish organization linked to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Adams’ current ordeal could be part of a broader plot by the woke wing of the Democratic Party establishment to put Adams in his place. After all, Adams has voiced his concerns with mass migration and radical anti-police causes, which are two issues that woke Democrats hold dearly.
It will be interesting to see how Democratic infighting will look like in the years to come, as the party grows more woke and its geriatric leaders try to cling to power in whichever way they can.
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