OAN Staff James Meyers
7:58 AM – Thursday, September 26, 2024
Almost a dozen federal agents arrived on the doorstep of Mayor Eric Adams’ mayoral home, Gracie Mansion, Thursday morning to search his official residence, only hours after Adams became the first New York City mayor to be indicted.
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The men and women in their high-powered suits filed into the mansion just before 6 a.m. hauling in briefcases and large bags.
Multiple sources said agents seized his phone during the morning operation, but it was not clear whether Adams was at Gracie Mansion when they arrived.
According to his lawyer Alex Spiro, Adams was not arrested.
“Federal agents appeared this morning at Gracie Mansion in an effort to create a spectacle (again) and take Mayor Adams’ phone (again),” he told The Associated Press. “They send a dozen agents to pick up a phone when we would have happily turned it in.”
Meanwhile, the indictment, which is the first-ever against a sitting New York City mayor, is expected to be unsealed by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, according to multiple sources.
“I hope whatever they have is compelling because their credibility is on the line now,” said one source close to the mayor.
Despite the authoritative presence outside Gracie Mansion, Adams wasn’t expected to surrender to law enforcement until early next week.
Furthermore, the details of the indictment are still unclear as of Thursday morning, but it is believed to be connected to allegations of the Turkish government illegally funneling money into his campaign in exchange for the approval of the Turkish Consulate in Manhattan.
Since the indictment, Adams posted a video statement claiming that any charges filed against him would be “entirely false, based on lies,” and stated that his criticism of the Biden administration’s border policies made him an easy target for retaliation.
“The federal government did nothing as its broken immigration policies overloaded our shelter system with no relief,” he said. “I put the people of New York before party and politics.”
“I always knew that if I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became,” he said.
“If I am charged, I am innocent, and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.”
Federal agents have also conducted a series of raids targeting Adams’ close inner circle in recent weeks, which includes the new police commissioner, the commissioner he replaced, as well as other top aides in the mayor’s office and from his campaign.
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