Federal agents zeroed in on the highest echelons of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration on Wednesday, searching homes and seizing the phones of a number of officials as part of an investigation unrelated to the mayor’s ongoing corruption probe. matter stated.
Among the officials federal investigators sought information from were the city’s police commissioner, first deputy mayor, schools chancellor, deputy mayor for public safety and a senior adviser to the mayor who is one of his closest confidantes, the people said.
Agents also searched the home of a consultant who is the brother of both the school’s chancellor and a deputy mayor, the people said.
The nature of the investigation is unclear, but one appears to focus on senior City Hall officials and the other on the police commissioner, the people said.
The police department’s top spokesman, Tariq Shepard, said he could not confirm the police commissioner’s search or subpoena, but said the agency would cooperate with the investigation.
Representatives of other officers — First Deputy Mayor, Sheena Wright; Her partner with whom she lives, school chancellor David C. banks; Deputy Mayor for Public Safety, Philip Banks III; and Timothy Pearson, a senior adviser to the mayor — could not be reached or declined to comment.
The consultant, Terence Banks, a retired MTA official, recently opened a government and community relations firm aimed at closing “the gap between New York’s complex infrastructure and political landscape.” He too could not be reached for comment.
Philip Banks, David Banks and Terence Banks are brothers.
The homes of several officials were searched, the people said. Others had their phones seized or records of their communications subpoenaed.
No one has been charged with any crime.
Several people with knowledge of the matter said there was no connection to the discovery Federal corruption investigation The mayor and his campaign focused on fundraising, but the Adams administration appeared to be more embroiled in a flurry of criminal investigations.
Lisa Zornberg, City Hall’s chief counsel, said in a statement that investigators have not indicated that the mayor or his staff were “targets of any investigation.”
“As a former member of law enforcement, the mayor has made it clear time and time again that all members of the team need to obey the law,” Ms. Zornberg said, referring to Mr. Adams’ career in the police department, from which he retired. Captain
The new investigation was being conducted by prosecutors from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is separately investigating the mayor and his campaign fundraising.
The full scope of that investigation also remains unclear. But it focused at least in part on whether Mr. Adams and his campaign conspired with the Turkish government to collect illegal foreign donations and whether Mr. Adams, in turn, pressured the Fire Department to sign the new Turkish consulate. In Manhattan, despite safety concerns. He has also seen the free flight upgrade Mr. Adams Received From Turkish Airlines.
A representative for the US attorney’s office declined to comment.
Mr. Adams has consistently denied wrongdoing, and federal authorities have not charged him with any crime.
The revelation that some of the most senior officials working for Mr. Adams, who are personally close to the mayor, are also now the subjects of other unrelated federal investigations will cast further clouds over an administration beset by legal problems.
It comes as Mr. Adams faces a hotly contested Democratic primary next year. On Thursday, the political fallout from news of the discovery was swift.
Jasmine Gripper and Ana Maria Arcilla, co-directors of the New York Working Families Party, said the investigation is distracting the mayor from focusing on running the city properly.
“Raids, corruption charges, and lawlessness became the hallmark of the Adams administration,” they said. “New Yorkers need a mayor who can focus on managing and making people’s lives better, not one who fights a laundry list of corruption allegations.”
The homes of David Banks and Mrs. Wright and Philip Banks were searched First reported by nonprofit news organization The City.
The discovery of the school chancellor’s house came at a busy time for him – the day before first day of school in New York City.
Spotted carrying a purple folder at his home on Thursday morning, the chancellor appeared confused by the presence of reporters milling about the banks.
Punching in the code on the panel above the door, he looked over his shoulder and asked, “What, was there a shooting or something?”
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