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This week, FBI agents seized phones and an iPad from New York City Mayor Eric Adams amid an ongoing investigation into his campaign fundraising, a lawyer for the mayor said Friday.
Officers approached Adams after an event Monday night and requested his devices, Boyd Johnson, an attorney for the mayor’s campaign organization, said in a statement.
“The mayor has been and remains committed to cooperating on this matter,” Johnsons said. “The mayor has not been charged with any crime and continues to cooperate with the investigation.”
A source familiar with the matter said the mayor handed out two cell phones and an iPad after the event and later handed out additional electronic devices.
News of the seizure of the mayor’s devices was first reported by The New York Times.
A spokesman for the FBI press office in New York City declined to comment.
On November 2, the FBI searched the New York home of a campaign fundraiser for Adams. The search was part of a federal campaign finance investigation, according to multiple sources familiar with the matter.
That search led the mayor to cancel a planned trip to meet with White House officials in Washington and return to New York.
“As a former member of law enforcement, I expect all members of my staff to follow the law and cooperate fully with any type of investigation, and I will continue to do exactly that,” Adams said in a statement Friday. “I have nothing to hide.”
The mayor’s team said it alerted authorities involved in the federal investigation about someone who “acted inappropriately.” This was done “in a spirit of transparency and cooperation,” the lawyer said.
During a press conference earlier this week, Adams expressed confidence in his campaign organization. “I would be surprised if anyone claimed that our campaign coordinated illegal behavior,” she said.
News of the seizure of the mayor’s devices was first reported by the New York Times.
NBC New York reported earlier this month that Adams, who was not yet halfway through his first term as mayor, had raised more than $2 million for his re-election campaign.
Adams, who retired from the NYPD with the rank of captain, campaigned as a tough-on-crime Democrat who would increase staffing and funding for the NYPD.
In July, six people were indicted and charged in an alleged scheme to divert tens of thousands of dollars to the Adams campaign through straw donors, or people whose names were used to subvert individual donation limits.
Two pleaded guilty.
The allegations, filed in state court, did not implicate the mayor, and his representatives have said he had no knowledge of the alleged scheme.
Melissa Ruso, Michelle Acevedo, The Associated Press and Matt Johnson contributed.
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