FBI agents seized NYC Mayor Eric Adams’ cell phones and iPad on the street last week after obtaining a court-authorized warrant.
In a shocking turn of events, the FBI is investigating suspicions that Adams’ campaign improperly accepted foreign funds from Turkey. This comes after the FBI raided the home of Adams’ former campaign consultant Brianna Suggs just days earlier.
While there is still a lot to uncover, the timing and sudden interest in Mayor Adams has made some wonder if there’s more to this story than the Biden administration would have us believe.
Is Biden retaliating against Adams for speaking out against the migration crisis in NYC?
It seems the feud between Joe Biden and NYC Mayor Eric Adams has reached a boiling point.
The FBI approached Adams on the street last week and seized his electronics, a deliberate move which was probably intended to humiliate Adams publicly.
According to the FBI, it is currently investigating whether Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign improperly accepted donations from sources connected to Turkey. They’re looking into potential violations involving straw donors or concealing the true origin of funds.
In case you were wondering, a straw donor is a person who illegally uses another person’s money to make a political contribution in their own name. It’s a serious accusation to make against Mayor Adams, but it’s also hard to believe that of all the potential misdealings and campaign finance scandals, this is the one the FBI decided to investigate right now.
Now many are wondering if Biden is behind all of this. After all, Adams has been a very vocal critic these last few months as he deals with the migrant crisis in NYC. Was this a power move to try and silence Adams?
Let’s not forget that Adams was on his way to meet with Biden and a coalition of other mayors demanding $5 billion to deal with the crisis in their cities when the FBI raided his campaign consultant’s home causing him to abruptly cancel the meeting.
Seems like pretty opportune timing to me.
As Adams’ campaign attorney Boyd Johnson stated, “After learning of the federal investigation, it was discovered that an individual had recently acted improperly. In the spirit of transparency and cooperation, this behavior was immediately and proactively reported to investigators.” He added that the “mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing and continues to cooperate with the investigation.”
Adams has also proclaimed his innocence saying, “As a former member of law enforcement, I expect all members of my staff to follow the law and fully cooperate with any sort of investigation, and I will continue to do exactly that. I have nothing to hide.”
Even if Adams’ is innocent of any wrongdoing, this investigation has likely tarnished his reputation in some way. Which would probably suit Biden’s interests right now since the relationship between Adams and Biden has reportedly been declining since last October. Around this time last year, Adams met with White House officials and expressed frustration with the lack of leadership on the migrant crisis issue, saying, “there’s no leadership here.”
Since then tensions have been building between the two Democrats, even leading Adams to criticize Biden publicly.
As Adams’ criticism intensified, he recruited fellow big city mayors to add pressure on the Biden administration this week. On Thursday, Adams planned to lead a group including Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and Denver Mayor Michael Johnston to Washington D.C. to directly lobby the president and members of Congress for more help. But Biden was spared much of the bad press when Adams abruptly turned around.
This is because the home of Brianna Suggs, a top campaign consultant and fundraiser for Adams, was raided by the FBI.
Investigators were probing allegations that in 2021, Adams’ mayoral campaign improperly accepted donations from Turkish government sources or a Brooklyn construction company in possible violation of campaign finance laws. Agents seized documents, phones, financial records and other potential evidence from Suggs’ residence. But was the timing of this raid intended to disrupt Adams’ advocacy?
The coordinated nature and leaking of the Suggs home raid to the media has stirred accusations of political overreach meant to undermine Adams’ criticism of the president. Some have questioned why the FBI did not simply subpoena the records instead of raiding the house?
Clearly, raiding the house gets a lot more publicity than a subpoena and in New York City’s cutthroat political arena, this will be used to attack Mayor Adams’ for years to come.
It’s important to note that at this early stage of the investigation, there has been nothing to definitively implicate Mayor Adams or even Brianna Suggs of any wrongdoing related to campaign finance violations.
Often in situations like this, campaigns unknowingly accept donations from sources that are later determined to have been illegally concealed through complex financial arrangements or straw donors.
Usually it takes investigators extensive time reviewing financial records and transactions before they can uncover a pattern, so the unusually swift manner in which accusations have been leveled against Adams has raised a few eyebrows.
Especially if we compare the speed of this investigation to investigations like Hunter Biden’s which has dragged on for years. The contrast is clear as day, and it seems that the proportionality of the response depends more on the individual under scrutiny than the evidence.
An overzealous scrutiny of one opponent while showing leniency towards others undermines fairness and non-partisanship. Let’s not forget the treatment Trump received for having classified documents at Mara Lago versus the reception Biden received for the same act.
While the government should ensure campaign finance laws are enforced, the ultimate goal should be to ensure consistency in how they are applied and not use it to target specific politicians.
