adminTeams of FBI agents executed “numerous search warrants” at homes and businesses throughout the New York area Thursday morning, including one at the home of a chief fundraiser for Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign, Brianna Suggs, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN.
The searches, the sources said, are part of an investigation by the FBI’s Public Corruption squad. The agents took phones, computers, tablets, and files from Suggs, according to the sources.
Agents also searched the headquarters of a Brooklyn based construction company and several homes, the sources said.
While the specific allegations behind the investigation are unknown, Adams abruptly canceled the remainder of a trip to Washington, DC, Thursday morning to meet with federal officials about the migrant crisis to return to New York. A spokesperson said that the reason for the urgent departure was that the mayor was dealing with “a matter”– and did not specify beyond that.
According to records published by New York City’s Campaign Finance Board, the Adams for Mayor 2021 campaign paid Suggs and an entity registered as “Suggs Solutions LLC” a total of $149,786.53 from May 2021 through May of this year for campaign work, consultation and fundraising. A spokesperson for Adams’ 2025 campaign, Evan Thies, confirmed to CNN that Suggs is still employed by the campaign and is raising for 2025.
The New York Times was first to report the search of Suggs home.
Suggs could not be reached for comment. The FBI did not return CNN’s request for comment.
A spokesman for the mayor’s office referred CNN to the Adams’ campaign. Adams 2021 Campaign Counsel Vitto Pitta told CNN “the campaign has always held itself to the highest standards. The campaign will of course comply with any inquiries, as appropriate.”
The mayor had not been contacted as part of the investigation, Pitta said.
Nicholas Biase, spokesperson for the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, declined to comment.
Fundraising to support the mayor’s campaign has previously been linked to criminal charges. The Manhattan district attorney charged six individuals earlier this year in an alleged straw donor scheme designed to support Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign. The indictment alleges that the individuals tried to circumvent New York City’s campaign finance rules to boost the then candidate’s campaign coffers.
“We allege a deliberate scheme to game the system in a blatant attempt to gain power,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement when the indictment was announced. “The indictment charges the defendants with subverting campaign finance laws by improperly structuring campaign contributions.”
Neither Adams nor his campaign were implicated in that indictment.
CNN’s Sabrina Shulman and Holmes Lybrand contributed to this report.
Read the full article here
