Adams’ Counsel: 'no Indication' New York City Mayor Is A Target After Raid On Senior Adviser

NEW YORK — For the second time in four months, Mayor Eric Adams’ chief counsel distanced the city’s leader from federal investigations involving high-ranking staffers following an FBI raid at the homes of a longtime aide.

“We have no indication that the mayor is a target of any pending investigation,” lead City Hall attorney Lisa Zornberg said at a wide-ranging press conference Tuesday.

It was the mayor's first news conference since a federal investigation into senior adviser Winnie Greco erupted into public view last week. Adams kept his comments simple when asked why prosecutors are investigating people around him, saying: “I can’t answer that question, I’m not the reviewer. The reviewers can answer that.”

“I follow one belief: follow the law. That’s what I follow," he added.

Greco, a senior adviser to the mayor and director of Asian affairs, had her homes and an office raided Thursday by federal agents. The investigation, involving the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, involves potential illegal straw donations to Adams’ mayoral campaign, the New York Post reported.

Federal agents also raided the homes of Adams’ campaign treasurer Brianna Suggs and international affairs aide Rana Abbasova, among other targets, on Nov. 2 in an operation led by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. That probe also reportedly involved possible straw donations, and Adams’ own phones and electronic devices were briefly seized by federal agents a week later.

Even after that, Zornberg said in November that "there has been no indication that I’ve seen that the mayor is a target.”

Nobody in the mayor’s orbit, including Adams, has been accused of wrongdoing in these investigations, and the scope of the inquiries has not been made public. Adams has hired private defense counsel, and has raised money from supporters to cover the costs.

Adams said he had not been in contact from the Eastern District about the investigation involving Greco. Zornberg said the same: “We’ve had no outreach following last week.”

Spokespeople for both the Eastern and Southern Districts declined to comment Tuesday.

Over the last several months, the mayor has settled into talking points about eager cooperation on any investigation into wrongdoing, and the importance of following the law. He reiterated those messages Tuesday, when asked whether he questioned the confidence he’s expressed that his team always follows the law.

“What I have is confidence in my constant belief from my days of law enforcement: follow the law,” Adams said. “I say the same thing: I say allow the inquiry to run its course.”

Irie Sentner contributed to this report.