Federal authorities are reportedly scrutinizing text messages that suggest New York City Mayor Eric Adams may have expedited approvals from the city's Buildings Department and Fire Department for the Turkish government's headquarters in Manhattan, as reported by the New York Post.
The text messages under investigation are between Adams, who was then serving as Brooklyn borough president and Democratic mayoral nominee, Turkish Consul General Reyhan zgr, and then-FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro.
In the midst of a federal corruption investigation linked to his 2021 campaign, the FBI seized Adams' cellphones and two iPads. Last week, the FBI also raided the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, Adams' chief fundraiser.
Suggs has played a crucial role in fundraising for Adams' campaigns, raising over $2.5 million for his 2025 re-election bid, as per the Daily Mail. During the raid on Suggs' residence, federal agents were seen leaving with a cardboard box.
The search warrant indicated an investigation into potential straw donor schemes involving campaign donations from the Turkish government.
The New York Post reports that federal investigators are now focusing on the text exchanges between Adams and the Turkish Consul General.
Sources close to the case told The Post that investigators are zeroing in on a series of texts from September 2021, suggesting Adams may have facilitated the opening of the Turkish government's new diplomatic headquarters in Manhattan.
These texts were discovered by FBI agents after they seized Adams' electronic devices. Since then, the focus of the federal inquiries has been on these text messages.
However, several sources briefed on the matter have stated that the messages do not seem to indicate any criminal activity beyond the typical outreach elected officials perform for constituents.
In a text dated September 5, 2021, zgr informed Adams that construction had recently been completed on the new Turkevi Center diplomatic headquarters, located across the street from the United Nations building on 46th Street and First Avenue, according to sources.
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