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Timeline: Here's how the federal investigation that led to NYC Mayor Adams' indictment unfolded

Josephine Stratman, New York Daily News on

Published in News & Features

NEW YORK — The bombshell indictment of Mayor Eric Adams Thursday marks the culmination of an investigation that first became public last November into whether Turkey’s government illegally donated to Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign.

The indictment, unsealed Thursday, charged Adams with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, federal program bribery and receiving campaign contributions from foreign nationals. Federal investigators described a scheme that spanned “nearly a decade,” starting when Adams became Brooklyn borough president in 2014, that involved him seeking and accepting “improper valuable benefits, such as luxury international travel, including from wealthy foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish government official seeking to gain influence over him.”

They say Adams proceeded to solicit and accept illegal straw donations from Turkish nationals and, once he became mayor, his “foreign-national benefactors sought to cash in on their corrupt relationships with him” by seeking and securing favors from him.

Here is a timeline of key events starting in November 2023.

Nov. 2, 2023: Brianna Suggs raided as Adams cuts D.C. trip short

The investigation became public with a rush of activity in November, starting when Brianna Suggs, the head of Adams 2021 campaign fundraising, had her Brooklyn home raided by the feds. Adams was headed to Washington, D.C., to meet with White House officials and others to discuss the city’s migrant crisis. The mayor shared a video of himself on a plane on his way.

But shortly after landing, he cleared his schedule and returned to New York.

The feds also visited the homes of Rana Abbasova, an aide in Adams’s international affairs office, and Cenk Öcal, a former Turkish Airlines executive who once served on his transition team, sources said.

“That’s why I came back from D.C., to be here, to be on the ground and look at this inquiry as it was made,” Adams said after the news of the raids.

An affidavit reported by The New York Times revealed the feds were looking for evidence of illegal straw donations from Turkey.

Nov. 6, 2023: Adams’ phones are taken

Four days later, FBI agents stopped Adams on the street, seizing his phones and iPad as part of the investigation. The devices were returned to him days later, a source said at the time.

A lawyer for Adams said that the mayor had “immediately complied” with the feds’ request for his devices.

Nov. 14: Adams admits role in FDNY consulate inspection

Mayor Adams admits that he reached out to the head of the FDNY in 2021 to resolve a building safety issue on behalf of the Turkish government — an episode that features in Thursday’s indictment.

Nov. 16: Abbasova on leave after acting “improperly”

Rana Abbasova, director of protocol in Adams’ International Affairs Office, is identified as having acted “improperly” as news of the federal investigation into Mayor Adams’ 2021 campaign spread.

Sources confirmed at the time that the conduct in question was Abbasova instructing other Adams staffers to delete text messages they’d exchanged with her.

She was placed on unpaid leave. In May, it was disclosed she was cooperating with federal investigators.

Nov. 28 – Brianna Suggs reassigned

In the wake of the raid, Suggs was reassigned so that she was no longer raising funds for Adams’ 2025 campaign, the mayor told reporters. She would take on “another role” on his reelection bid, the mayor said.

“She’s no longer doing fundraising for the campaign,” Adams said.

 

Weeks later, Adams said that she had been assigned to administrative paperwork.

“All of that documentation, she knows it well and she’s going to be part of that processing,” he said on the PIX11 appearance.

Feb. 29 – Feds raid Winnie Greco’s home

Winnie Greco, director of Asian Affairs for Adams, had her two Pelham Bay homes raided by federal investigators.

FBI agents also raided the offices of the New World Mall in Queens, according to the news outlet The City, where Greco helped in hosting lucrative fundraisers for Adams’ 2021 campaign.

Videos showed the feds leaving one of Greco’s homes carrying boxes and bags and loading them into SUVs. Shortly after the searches, an Adams spokesman said that Greco went on paid sick leave due to an unspecified medical condition.

Greco has ties to China, including doing consulting work for local groups funded by Beijing’s Communist government, the Daily News previously reported.

May 2024 – Greco returns to work

In early May, Greco returned to her post as head of Asian affairs, a spokeswoman for the mayor said at the time.

“The final decision is up to me, and that’s the final decision we made,” Adams told reporters at a City Hall press briefing, refusing to specify what prompted the decision.

June 2024 – Grand jury hearing evidence

The News reported that a federal grand jury had been reviewing evidence at least since June as part of the investigation into Adams’ 2021 campaign ties to Turkey. The evidence being reviewed focused on allegations that the campaign received illegal donations from the Turkish government, two sources said at the time.

July 2024 – Adams subpoenaed about foreign countries

Manhattan feds issued grand jury subpoenas to Adams, his election committee and his City Hall office for information regarding interactions with five other foreign countries — Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan — The Times reported.

The three subpoenas were served in July, The Times reported, and sought copious materials, including text messages, documents and other communications.

“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,” Adams spokesman Fabian Levy said of the subpoenas. “Nothing has changed. He expects everyone to cooperate to swiftly bring this investigation to a close.”

Sept. 26, 2024: Adams indicted

Adams is indicted, becoming the first mayor in the modern era to face criminal charges while in office,

The mayor has professed his innocence and has said he will not step down amid growing calls for his resignation.

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©2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 

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