Mayor Eric Adams subpoenaed as part of campaign-donation corruption probe
NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- Federal prosecutors in New York served another round of grand jury subpoenas, including one to Mayor Eric Adams, as part of a corruption investigation that has stretched for nearly a year, according to sources.
The new batch of subpoenas, first reported by The New York Times, were issued last month and sought communications and documents.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment. Mayor Adams has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
"As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has been clear over the last nine months that he will cooperate with any investigation underway. Nothing has changed. He expects everyone to cooperate to swiftly bring this investigation to a close," Fabien Levy, the deputy mayor for communications, said in a statement provided to ABC News.
Adams confirmed receipt of the subpoenas during a taped interview with Eyewitness News anchor Bill Ritter for his Sunday Up Close program.
"Like previous administrations that have gone through subpoenas you participate and cooperate," Adams said. "You see the subpoena and you respond. At the end of the day, it will show there is no criminality here."
At a news conference Friday afternoon announcing a contract settlement with the city's probation officers, Mayor Adams repeated what he's been saying for the past nine months.
"Listen, it takes a great deal of discipline to defend yourself when you know you have done nothing wrong," he said. "But I trust my team. I have an offensive line that's going to allow me to move the ball down the field and to fight on behalf of New Yorkers on some of these real issues that we're facing in the city. I have a great deal of trust in my team, and I am going to go by the rules, comply and be as transparent as possible and follow the rules. And that's what we're doing."
As ABC News has previously reported, the investigation, at least in part, involves whether Adams and his campaign sought illegal donations from Turkey in exchange for pressuring the fire department to rush an inspection of the new Turkish consulate. Investigators also examined whether Adams received upgrades on Turkish Airlines flights.
An attorney for Adams, Brendan McGuire, said he and another lawyer have conducted their own investigation of the areas federal prosecutors are reviewing and have concluded the mayor did nothing wrong.
"Our investigation has included an evaluation of campaign documents, an analysis of tens of thousands of electronic communications, and witness interviews. To be clear, we have not identified any evidence of illegal conduct by the Mayor. To the contrary, we have identified extensive evidence undermining the reported theories of federal prosecution as to the Mayor, which we have voluntarily shared with the US Attorney. We continue to cooperate with the investigation and are in the process of responding to the recently issued subpoenas. We continue to look forward to a prompt and just resolution of this investigation," McGuire said in a statement provided to ABC News by his firm, WilmerHale.
It's unclear what prompted these new subpoenas, how much they expand the scope of the federal probe, or how far it is along. It's also unclear if Adams is a target of the investigation.
Back in November, FBI agents seized his electronic devices as part of the investigation, days after federal agents searched the Brooklyn home of Adams' top campaign fundraiser, 25-year-old Brianna Suggs.
Rich Frankel, a former FBI special agent in-charge, weighed in on the investigation.
"A subpoena is not a charge and it could be that he is the subject of an investigation-that he's the target of an investigation-or he is just a witness of the investigation," he said. "And the fact that he has not been charged doesn't mean he's going to be charged. It just means that it's a subpoena and the FBI, the U.S. Attorney's office, is looking for more evidence, more intelligence related to their investigation."
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