Federal prosecutors have demanded that City Hall disclose all communications between the Adams administration and five additional countries, a major expansion of the Turkish campaign finance investigation.
The wide-ranging records requests, issued in a series of subpoenas in July, provided the first detailed look at one of the investigations the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has been conducting targeting Adams and his associates since the home of his campaign fundraiser was raided in November.
Sources told The Washington Post that the subpoenas sought details of all interactions between administration officials and Israel, China, Qatar, South Korea and Uzbekistan.
It was previously unclear what the subpoena seeks.
Adams' 2021 campaign also received a subpoena seeking additional information about campaign finances, particularly those with ties to Turkey, the people said.
It is unclear why communications regarding these five counties were requested.
Former Police Commissioner Edward Cabán made two trips to Qatar at foreign governments' expense, as reported exclusively by The Washington Post, but it is unclear whether these are related to the request.
One source close to the mayor called the subpoena an “absurd request.”
“It appears to be a fishing trip,” the source added.
The full extent of the investigation, which began in 2021, remains unclear.
Adams visited Israel last year as part of a study trip paid for by the New York Federation of Jewish Liberation Front.
It is unclear whether Cavan and Adams' trip has any connection to the federal investigation.
Deputy Mayor Fabian Levy, a spokesman for Adams, declined to comment on “the contents of the subpoena.”
“However, as we have repeatedly stated, we will continue to comply fully with law enforcement's investigation,” Levy said.
Adams, his city council and the elections board received grand jury subpoenas in July from the federal government investigating his 2021 campaign fundraising, sources told The Washington Post last month.
The three subpoenas sought text messages, documents and other communications and materials, the sources said.
Adams denies any wrongdoing.
“It takes a lot of self-control not to say anything when you know you're not doing anything wrong,” he said last month.
Investigators are looking at suspicious donations from the Turkish government during Adams' first run for mayor, airline upgrades and the fast-track opening of Turkey's new diplomatic headquarters in Manhattan, the people said.
The home of Adams' fundraising chief, Brianna Suggs, was searched by the FBI in November as part of the Turkey investigation.
The mayor and his aides have not been accused of wrongdoing.
Other city hall employees and NYPD officers are also the subject of separate federal investigations, but none have been charged with a crime.
