It’s been a whirlwind of a week for both the city of New York and its mayor, as multiple members of Eric Adams’ inner circle – including the head of the NYPD – had their homes raided by federal authorities for reasons that still remain largely unclear to the public.
And the raids this week are only the latest in a series of probes into the mayor and his closest allies. Federal authorities and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office were already investigating Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign. Then aide Winnie Greco was searched by the FBI in a separate probe. Earlier this week the schools commissioner David Banks and his partner, First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright were visited by the FBI as was Banks’ brother, Deputy Mayor Philip Banks in another investigation.
And on Friday, Gothamist reported that Police Commissioner Edward Caban was being investigated by the IRS and U.S. Attorney’s Office.
It’s a lot to keep track of. Here’s a breakdown of what is going down at City Hall.
Can we back up? How did all of this even start?
Adams has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but his 2021 campaign has been under investigation for more than a year.
In July 2023, the Manhattan D.A.’s office indicted six people for allegedly using straw donors in a scheme to generate more money for Adams’ mayoral run – some of the indicted would later plead guilty to conspiracy charges.
In November the FBI raided the home of Adams’ top campaign fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. FBI agents later publicly seized the mayor’s cell phone and other devices.
The investigations from the FBI and the Manhattan D.A.’s office are still ongoing – but it’s unclear if they’re related to this week’s events.
A complete timeline of all of the federal investigations can be found here.
So what exactly happened this week?
The list of Adams aides who have been searched by the FBI grew by three.
On Wednesday, the FBI searched the home of Wright and David Banks.
Chancellor Banks is the brother of Deputy Mayor Philip Banks – whose home was raided that same day. Philip Banks was an unindicted co-conspirator in a scandal that involved trading police favors for cash, diamonds and airplane sex with a prostitute.
The trio are pretty tight with the mayor; some political observers refer to Wright and the Banks brothers as “the family.”
Then on Thursday federal officials seized the phone of Edward Caban along with multiple other police officials and a Caban family member. That investigation, Gothamist confirmed, is being led by the IRS Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District. That means it’s a whole different investigation than the others.
That brings the grand total of criminal probes into Adams’ administration to five (that we’re aware of): 4 federal and one local.
What should I be paying attention to now?
On Friday Councilmember Bob Holden joined the New York Post in calling for Caban to resign. Holden, a Democrat, is more conservative than most of his Council colleagues and has been a vocal supporter of the police department.
In an interview on PIX 11, the mayor said he would stay in the job.
It’s important to note: no official has been formally accused of a crime.
