New York City’s Democrat Mayor Eric Adams is even more closely linked to the center of an ongoing federal corruption investigation than was previously known, newly emerged documents have revealed.
According to documents obtained by Politico, Adams attended over 80 events focused on Turkey.
The country’s ties to Adams are the basis for an ongoing federal corruption investigation.
As Slay News reported earlier, Adams’ top campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, was the target of an FBI search warrant executed on November 2.
Shortly after agents raided Suggs’s home, Adams’ electronic devices were seized by the FBI sometime before November 10.
The investigation is focused on whether Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign received illegal campaign donations from Turkey.
According to the report, Adams had a close relationship with Turkey while he was the borough president of Brooklyn in NYC.
During his eight years as borough president, Adams attended over 80 events that celebrated or commemorated Turkey, according to the report.
Many of these events were hosted by Turkish businesses and industry groups.
Turkish Airlines, the country’s largest air carrier, is among the most frequently listed hosts or affiliates.
The airline previously hosted Adams at the luxurious Metropolitan Club in Manhattan.
In 2015, the company reportedly paid for one of his six trips to Turkey.
However, this in-kind gift was allegedly omitted from his financial disclosure forms that year.
the NYT has a helpful flowchart on Eric Adams’ known ties to Turkey: https://t.co/spYPAx6XIw pic.twitter.com/HYo3nwtw6c
— Andrew Giambrone (@AndrewGiambrone) November 15, 2023
After being sworn in as mayor, Adams appointed a Turkish Airlines executive, Cenk Öcal, to his mayoral transition team.
Öcal, the airline’s New York director, was appointed to a committee that focused on infrastructure, according to the report.
According to multiple reports, one of Adams’ trips was also funded by the Turkish government through its consulate general in New York City.
That trip allowed Adams to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
He has also frequently met Turkish diplomatic officials in the United States.
According to The New York Times, he frequently met with the Turkish consul general.
In October of 2022, Adams’ chief of staff, Frank Carone, and NYC’s international affairs commissioner, Edward Mermelstein, attended a real estate conference in Istanbul.
They attended the event seeking to encourage Turkish investment in the city, according to the report.
Adams addressed the conference virtually through a video link.
However, the engagement was left off the mayor’s public schedule.
The FBI’s ongoing investigation focuses on donations made to him by KSK Construction Group, a Turkish-owned business based in Brooklyn, and Bay Atlantic University in Washington, D.C., which is owned by a Turkish businessman.
Employees at both of these organizations donated tens of thousands of dollars to the Adams campaign in 2021.
Individuals at the Turken Foundation and the Turkish American National Steering Committee also pumped cash into the Democrat mayor’s campaign.
Both of these organizations have been described as “pro-Erdogan groups” by the Times.
The investigation is also probing Adams’ role in supporting the opening of the Turkish Consulate-General in New York City in 2021.
According to Politico, Adams reportedly pressed the NYC Fire Department’s then-Commissioner, Daniel Nigro, to grant the $300 million facility a certificate of occupancy.
The FDNY had reportedly refused to grant the building a certificate but did so temporarily following Adams’ intervention.
After this, the building was formally opened by Erdogan during a visit to the United States.
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