NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The Manhattan district attorney’s office has launched another investigation, marking the fifth into City Hall, now focusing on the city’s leasing of commercial properties, according to reports.
The investigation involves Adams’ chief advisor, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, along with a group that includes city real estate official Jesse Hamilton, broker Diana Boutross, and others, sources told The New York Times. Authorities have seized the phones of at least five people.
Lewis-Martin's phone was seized as she landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport after a trip to Japan, and her Brooklyn home was also searched.
Details about the case have not been disclosed.
“These searches and any negative connotations associated with them or this preplanned vacation are baseless,” said Arthur Aidala, Lewis-Martin’s lawyer, in a statement. “Ingrid Lewis-Martin has conducted herself at the highest level of ethical standards while serving this city, and in due time, all the facts will come out and show that everything was done properly.”
A City Hall spokeswoman told The New York Times, “We hold all employees to the highest ethical standards and have been abundantly clear that they must follow the law.”
The search came amid an ongoing exodus of top Adams administration officials, as federal prosecutors delve deeper into allegations that the mayor was using staffers in an attempt to cover up wrongdoing.
Adams has maintained a busy schedule in recent weeks, striking a buoyant tone at news briefings and insisting he can simultaneously lead the city, defend himself in court and reshape an administration battered by federal searches and resignations.
Adams portrayed the parade of high-level departures from his administration as unconnected to the criminal investigations — a claim at odds with statements from some of those former staffers.
His first deputy mayor, Sheena Wright, submitted her resignation Monday, one day after Adams confirmed the resignation of her brother-in-law Philip Banks, who served as the deputy mayor for public safety, and Winnie Greco, the city’s director of Asian affairs. Wright’s representative declined to provide a reason for her resignation.
Last week, Adams announced the schools chancellor David Banks — the husband of Wright and brother of Philip Banks — would leave later this month, rather than at the end of the year as planned.
Police Commissioner Edward Caban resigned last month, saying he did not want the investigations to serve as a “distraction” to the police department. And a senior mayoral adviser, Timothy Pearson, has also resigned. All six officials had their devices seized by federal investigators. Each has denied wrongdoing.
Adams has vowed to stay in office and seek reelection next year after pleading not guilty Sept. 27 to charges that he accepted about $100,000 worth of free or deeply discounted international flights, hotel stays, meals and entertainment, and sought illegal campaign contributions from representatives of Turkey and other foreign interests.
At a hearing last week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Hagan Scotten said prosecutors are pursuing “several related investigations” and that it is “likely” additional defendants will be charged and “possible” that more charges will be brought against Adams.
Adams’ office confirmed Monday that another aide, Rana Abbasova, was fired. She had been the mayor’s director of protocol for international affairs and was involved in events at the heart of his indictment, including fundraising and accompanying him on trips to Turkey. She’s been on unpaid leave since the FBI raided her home last year. She is now a “key witness” for the prosecution, according to Adams’ lawyer Alex Spiro.
Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat who has the power to remove Adams from office, said last week that she was working with the mayor to make sure key positions “are filled with people who are going to be responsible.”
“We expect changes, that’s not a secret, and changes are beginning,” Hochul said.
Adams is also accused of knowingly accepting illegal donations from straw donors — his indictment alleges he conspired to take campaign contributions from Turkish nationals and disguise the payments by routing them through U.S. citizens. That enabled Adams to unlock public funds providing an eight-to-one match for small-dollar donations, prosecutors said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.