Is Eric Adams' growing Turkish scandal a distraction or disaster for his administration?
The New York City mayor scrambles to 'address a matter' as federal investigators ratchet up a probe into his 2021 campaign


Perhaps never in the colorful, boisterous history of New York City politics has there been a mayor quite like Eric Adams. Whether holding court in the VIP section of his favorite nightclub, extolling the "special energy" emanating from the city's unique geology (according to New York news outlet Hellgate, Adams is "NYC's first Crystals Guy mayor"), or detailing his experience with purported poltergeists ("You hear squeaks ... You hear a door close") Adams has already managed in carve a unique niche for himself in the illustrious annals of Big Apple bosses. As Adams sees it, "swagger" is as crucial a component of his leadership as any one policy initiative or legislative goal, because as he's explained: "When a mayor has swagger, the city has swagger."
Still, for as much as Adams has worked to establish himself as a singular figure for a new era of New York City, he finds himself this week grappling with a decidedly unoriginal challenge: a political scandal over money, influence, and corruption emanating from the heart of his inner circle.
Just hours after posting a video on Thursday encouraging the public to "follow along" as he flew to Washington, D.C., for a series of meetings over the influx of migrants into his city — an issue he has long made one of the tentpoles of his administration — Adams quickly returned home to New York, as his office explained, to "address a matter" in need of his urgent attention.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
On my way to DC to join my fellow mayors to talk with our federal partners about the asylum seeker crisis. Follow along throughout the day. pic.twitter.com/K6bvwP4gwQNovember 2, 2023
Just hours later, multiple news agencies and outlets reported that the FBI had raided the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, Adams' campaign adviser and top fundraiser as part of a federal investigation into alleged illegal business transactions and influence peddling between Adams' mayoral campaign and Turkish government officials.
What the commentators said
While Adams himself has not been personally implicated or accused in the investigation, a "broad public corruption investigation involving his chief fundraiser and his 2021 campaign has drawn the mayor even closer to the edge" and "poses a serious threat" for someone whose cozy relationships with various donors has raised eyebrows throughout his political career, The New York Times reported.
When Adams retreated home from his scheduled D.C. agenda, "he may have been heading toward political peril," Politico concurred, noting Adams' promise to "fully participate" with any inquiry. While there are no serious challengers to Adams should he run again in 2025, the investigation has nevertheless left "some on the left smelling blood in the water" with one progressive organizer in the city telling the outlet simply "Drip, drip, drip, drop."
In particular, investigators are looking into a series of donations to Adams' campaign from employees of the Brooklyn-based KSK Construction Company, whose founders are Turkish. According to The City, New York regulators "repeatedly asked Eric Adams’ mayoral campaign about a cluster of donations" from a 2021 event in which nearly 100 KSK employees were listed as having donated more than $69,000 to Adams' campaign. When contacted by the outlet, "multiple people listed in Adams 2021 campaign donation records as KSK employees either said they did not donate to Eric Adams or refused to state whether they had ever donated." Moreover, this "isn't the first time" people in Adams' orbit have been accused of "creating 'straw donor' contributions, by using people's names without their consent to get around campaign contribution laws, and then using those donations to secure matching funds" for Adams' campaign, Hellgate reported, cautioning that it's unclear whether this latest raid is related those previous instances.
What next?
Even if Adams has yet to be directly implicated in the investigation, it could still embolden potential challengers to step up ahead of the 2025 race, Basil Smikle, director of the Public Policy Program at Hunter College, told the Times. "The question has always been how close the scandal is to the mayor, and this is getting pretty close."
The investigation has also renewed scrutiny about Adams' self-professed closeness with Turkey, including comments made just last week at a flag-raising ceremony at which Adams bragged that he's "probably the only mayor in the history of this city that has not only visited Turkey once, but I think I'm on my sixth or seventh visit."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Rafi Schwartz has worked as a politics writer at The Week since 2022, where he covers elections, Congress and the White House. He was previously a contributing writer with Mic focusing largely on politics, a senior writer with Splinter News, a staff writer for Fusion's news lab, and the managing editor of Heeb Magazine, a Jewish life and culture publication. Rafi's work has appeared in Rolling Stone, GOOD and The Forward, among others.
-
June 5 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Thursday's political cartoons include a presidential get-out-of-jail-free card, masked ICE agents, and the Tooth Fairy's message for Senator Joni Ernst
-
Selling sex: why investors are wary of OnlyFans despite record profits
In The Spotlight The platform that revolutionised pornography is for sale – but its value is limited unless it can diversify
-
Garsington Opera opens its summer festival with two 'very different productions'
The Week Recommends A 'fabulous' new staging of Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades and Donizetti's fake-love-potion comedy L'elisir d'amore
-
A running list of all the celebrities Trump has pardoned
IN DEPTH Reality stars, rappers and disgraced politicians have received some of the high-profile pardons doled out by the president
-
Elon Musk says he's 'done enough' political spending. What does that really mean?
TODAY'S BIG QUESTION The world's richest man predicted he'd do 'a lot less' electoral financing moving forward. Has Washington seen the last of the tech titan?
-
Hurricane season is here. How will Trump's FEMA respond?
Today's Big Question An internal review says the agency is not ready for big storms
-
'The national appetite has been waning'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
A running list of Trump's conflicts of interest
In Depth A potential Qatari plane is the latest in a series of problematic connections
-
Democrats grapple with Biden cover-up fallout ahead of 2028
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Even before his cancer diagnosis, Dems have been grappling with whether the White House's alleged effort to hide Biden's failing health is worth relitigating
-
The horse racing industry is caught up in the migrant debate
Under the Radar At least 78% of the workers on race tracks are reportedly immigrants
-
Why Turkey's Kurdish insurgents are laying down their arms
Under the Radar The PKK said its aims can now be 'resolved through democratic politics'