A senior official charged with leading Mayor Eric Adams’ response to New York City’s ongoing migrant crisis became the latest to be hit with a subpoena by federal prosecutors on Friday, according to multiple published reports.
Federal law enforcement served Molly Schaeffer, the city’s director of asylum seeker operations, with a subpoena at her Brooklyn home on the morning of Sept. 19, the Associated Press first reported. The reported subpoena is the latest revelation in a torrent of law enforcement actions around the Adams administration in recent weeks.
However, the mayor’s top spokesperson, Fabien Levy, declined to confirm the subpoena when reached by amNewYork Metro.
“While we won’t comment on an ongoing investigation, as we have repeatedly said, we expect all team members to fully comply with any ongoing inquiry,” Levy said. “Molly Schaeffer is an integral part of our team and works hard every day to deliver for New Yorkers.”
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, which is helming at least three investigations into the mayor’s campaign and City Hall, declined to comment on the reported subpoena.
Reports from the Daily News and New York Post indicate that the subpoena is seeking information related to an investigation into another senior Adams administration official — Tim Pearson. Although it was not clear what specific materials investigators were seeking from Schaeffer.
Schaeffer has served in city government for the past decade, holding roles in the Department of Education, Department of Health and the mayor’s office. She was elevated to lead the city’s migrant crisis response last year as tens of thousands of new arrivals poured into the city.
Pearson, who officially for the city’s Economic Development Corporation, but oversees migrant crisis contracting for the administration, was one of several City Hall officials whose homes got raided and electronics seized earlier this month. Other figures who were raided by the feds earlier this month include former NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright, her partner Schools Chancellor David Banks and his brother Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks.
The action was connected to two reported federal probes that burst into public view earlier this month — one connected to the NYPD’s enforcement of nightlife establishments and the other to city contracting. In the weeks since the raids, Caban resigned as police commissioner last week and the city’s former chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, stepped down last weekend.
