Mayor Eric Adams on Tuesday dodged questions about subpoenas federal investigators issued to him, staffers at City Hall and his campaign in July, repeating that they’re “going to let this run its course.”
When pressed by THE CITY for details on where he was when he received the subpoena, first reported last week by The New York Times, Adams balked.
“We’ve answered all that we’re going to do with this,” he said at his first weekly press conference since the news broke. “We’re going to let this run its course, it’s all about a process and we’re not going to interfere with the process. We’re going to cooperate with the process.”
The three subpoenas were served in July, according to the Times, and sought text messages, communications and documents related to the mayor’s successful 2021 campaign and travel by the mayor.
The mayor’s chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, also spoke briefly about the investigation by the FBI and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, noting, “we have not been told the mayor’s the target. We’ve always said we’d cooperate with any request from law enforcement and we are continuing to do that.”
At an unrelated press conference last week, Zornberg said the Adams’ team were only speaking about the subpoenas because they were reported on.
“When SDNY serves a subpoena, including in this case, their cover letter expressly requests that the recipient refrain from even acknowledging the existence of the subpoena,” she said. “So, that’s standard practice and
because we’re so cooperative, we’ve complied with that.”
Fed Up
Adams has been dogged by questions about federal probes since the FBI raided a top fundraiser’s Brooklyn home last November.
Since then, the FBI raided two homes owned by Winnie Greco, an aide who worked on the mayor’s election and with him when he was Brooklyn borough president. The raids followed reporting by THE CITY that alleged Greco charged people thousands of dollars to attend events at Gracie Mansion on behalf of a nonprofit she ran.
The FBI also raided offices inside the New World Mall in Flushing, Queens, where THE CITY reported potential illegal straw donations from the shopping center’s owners.
Adams and his team have maintained they are cooperating with investigators as their probes continue. Despite the cooperation, the multiple investigations have cast a shadow over the mayor’s re-election campaign, inspiring a slew of primary opponents.
Also on Tuesday, Zornberg tried to clamp down on questions related to Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign — telling reporters there were restrictions on what could be asked, citing the city Conflicts of Interests Board.
“I would request, please refrain from asking specific questions solely campaign related about the presidential campaign,” she said, “that should not be done during a city press conference.”
A spokesperson for COIB said the agency couldn’t confirm if Zornberg sought their guidance, citing the city charter.
