A slew of top Adams administration officials had their homes searched and electronics seized by federal law enforcement last week, catapulting a previously unknown pair of Justice Department investigations into public view.
Federal agents executed search warrants on some of the highest-ranking officials in the Adams administration on the morning of Sept. 4, according to several published reports. They include NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban; First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright; her long-time partner, Schools Chancellor David Banks; his brother, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks; and Tim Pearson — a senior public safety adviser to the mayor.
News of the raids has rocked the New York political world and plunged the Adams administration further into turmoil. The mayor is already facing a separate federal inquiry involving his 2021 campaign, in addition to record-low poll numbers, all while he is set to begin running for reelection next year.
What do we know so far about last week’s federal action and what it means for the Adams administration?
Is it connected to the Turkey investigation?
While much is still unknown about the federal probes that prompted last week’s raids, they appear unconnected to a separate investigation into the mayor’s 2021 campaign’s dealings with the Turkish government helmed by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, a source familiar with the matter told amNewYork Metro last week.
Yet the latest probes are reportedly being handled by the same federal prosecutor’s office.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is also involved in the new investigation, NBC News reported on Friday.
What are the investigations focused on?
Although the US Attorney’s Office itself has refrained from commenting on the inquiries, the New York Times reported that the raids stemmed from two separate probes into the administration. One is a corruption investigation into the NYPD’s enforcement of nightlife establishments and the other involves a bribery scheme connected to city contracts.
Specifically, investigators are eyeing Caban and Banks’ brothers, James Caban and Terrence Banks, who have business interests in nightlife security and government relations respectively, the Daily News reported. Caban is under scrutiny as part of the investigation into NYPD curruption and Banks is being looked at in connection with the Bribery scheme, the Times reported.
The two figures do not work in the Adams administration but reportedly also had their homes searched and electronics seized by the feds last week. Additionally, several high-ranking NYPD officials, including precinct commanders, had their devices seized.
James Caban is a former cop who was fired from the NYPD in 2001 for wrongfully detaining and threatening a cab driver and now runs a nightlife consulting business. He is being investigated for working as a “fixer” on behalf of nightlife businesses, using his connections to the NYPD to smooth over their violations with the city, according to a New York Post
Terence Banks — a political consultant who had a 25-year career in the MTA — runs a lobbying firm called the Pearl Alliance that appears to be at the center of the bribery probe, the Times reported. In additon to bribery, the feds are reportedly looking at potential crimes including fraud and violations of the federal Travel Act.
The mayor on Sept. 10 said he has known the Banks family — including Terence Banks — for “a long period of time.”
Has Adams himself been implicated?
Neither the mayor himself nor any of the individuals who were raided last Wednesday have been formally accused of any wrongdoing.
The raids also did not hit the mayor himself. That contrasts with the probe into his 2021 campaign, during which agents seized his cell phones and iPad.
Last week the mayor’s chief counsel, Lisa Zornberg, said federal “investigators have not indicated to us the mayor or his staff are targets of any investigation.”
The mayor, during an interview on Pix11 last Friday, insisted that he does not know why the feds searched the homes of his top deputies last week. He said he will continue to “follow the rules” and do anything he can to assist the investigators.
During his weekly news conference on the Tuesday following the raids, Adams addressed New Yorkers directly about the seriousness of the probes.
“These investigations have raised a lot of questions and a lot of concerns,” Adams said. “There are some serious matters that must be addressed. I was as surprised as you to learn of these inquiries, and I take them extremely seriously. I spent more than 20 years in law enforcement, so every member of the administration knows my expectation that we must all follow the law.”
Adams notably did stand by most of his top deputies who are under scrutiny on Tuesday, noting they have not been accused of wrongdoing. However, he refused to say that he has full confidence in Commissioner Caban specifically, instead expressing the “utmost confidence” in the NYPD at large, amid reports that his office is pressuring Caban to resign.
How many federal probes are surrounding the mayor now?
The latest federal investigations into Adams and his top aides are the third and fourth to come to light thus far.
The Turkey investigation, which first became known when federal agents searched the Brooklyn home of Adams’ former chief campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs last November, was the first of the three to come into public view.
While the full scope of that investigation is still unclear, it is at least in part looking at whether Adams’ 2021 campaign colluded with the government of Turkey to receive illegal foreign donations in exchange for political favors. One of the actions the feds are reportedly looking at is whether Adams used his position as Brooklyn borough president to speed up building approvals for a Midtown Turkish consulate building in 2021 — after he won the Democratic primary for mayor.
The mayor, his campaign and City Hall were all subpoenaed in the investigation last month.
The third investigation, run out of the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, involves top Adams aide Winnie Greco, whose two Bronx homes were raided by federal agents in February.
No one who has been ensnared in either of the inquiries has so far been accused of a crime.
