The FBI investigation into Mayor Eric Adams is focused on campaign money, favors and possible foreign influence, according to officials briefed on the investigation.
Adams has a long and proud relationship with the Turkish-American community of New York City, and he has made a half a dozen trips to Turkey. The FBI is also looking into those trips and one of the locations searched on November 2Â was the residence of an executive from Turkish Airlines.
The FBI, the sources said, is also looking into contacts with Turkish government officials in New York and in Turkey to determine if a foreign government used a web of businessmen and Turkish expats to curry favor with Adams to further Turkey’s business interests in New York – or even develop a long-term alliance with an American politician who has made no secret about having further political ambitions, including the White House.
Some of the allegations being investigated involve a Brooklyn-based construction company owned by a Turkish-American businessman who sources say gathered employees and others to write checks to the Adams campaign and then allegedly paid the donors back in full, skirting campaign finance laws.
Sources familiar with what investigators have found told CNN that the FBI has the records of checks and wire transfers from KSK, returning money to employees in the same amounts as the contributions. The total amount of the contributions exceeded the money the company could have legally given but also triggered matching funds the issued by the city. KSK boasts on its website that it has constructed more than 50 buildings in New York City, with projects that range from townhouse renovations to condo complexes and full scale skyscrapers. These are the kinds of major projects that can require a vast amount of permits and interactions from multiple city agencies.
Reached by CNN Monday, KSK had no…
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