The high-profile search of the home of New York's interim police commissioner comes just days after he took office and comes as investigations swirl around officials in Adams' administration, according to information obtained by The Washington Post.
Interim Commissioner Thomas Donlon said in a statement Saturday night that federal authorities had seized “materials that came into my possession 20 years ago and are unrelated to my work with the NYPD,” a week after his predecessor resigned over a seemingly unrelated raid.
Sources told The Post that agents were searching for classified documents that Donlon may have brought back from his time with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security, but that explanation has left many law enforcement officials perplexed.
“The same federal agency that 'recommended' Donlon to Adams also executed a warrant to search Donlon's home looking for 20-year-old documents less than a week after his appointment,” one source said, adding that Southern District of New York District President Damien Williams had actually endorsed Mayor Eric Adams' pick for commissioner before it was announced.
“Investigators can be heard laughing while torturing the mayor,” the source continued. “It's ripe for the SDNY and FBI to crack down hard on Adams.”
The same source said Donlon “apparently angered the wrong people at the FBI,” so agents “threw another grenade into Adams' lap, [pin].”
“Donlon was a collateral victim,” the source said.
Mayor Adams appointed Donlon, an NYPD outsider, as the city's interim chief on September 12, the same day that previous chief Edward Cabán abruptly resigned amid a federal investigation that focused on him, his brother and several of the mayor's embattled aides and top officials.
Federal agents seized Cabán's electronic devices as part of a broader corruption investigation into alleged patronage, according to people familiar with the matter, that also implicates Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, Superintendent David Banks and his brother Terrence Banks, former NYPD officer Tim Pearson and First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.
No one has been charged with a crime, and it is not yet clear whether the investigations are interrelated.
Donlon, who retired from federal service and ran a private security company, was thrust back into the public eye when he was appointed New York's top police officer.
On Sunday, Donlon ignored The Washington Post as he walked out of his Upper East Side apartment and refused to answer questions about the search.
Some sources say the search of Adams' home was the federal government's way of telling Adams that no one around him was safe.
But others argued that this was simply the result of the relicensing review process and had nothing to do with criminal activity.
But not everyone believed it.
“They don't search your home when they give you a security clearance,” says Joseph Pistone, the legendary FBI agent known as “Donnie Brasco” for infiltrating the Mafia in the 1970s and '80s.
“If you were to look at Tom's background, you would say he's outspoken and he loves his country,” said Pistone, who has known Donlon since 1974.
“I'm astounded. He's been out of the department for 15 years and you look at the roles he's held,” he continued. “I can't think of anything good to say about him.
“And now he's been appointed police commissioner and a week later his house is being searched,” he said. “I have no idea why they would search his house. It's ridiculous.”
Mark Carroll, a former assistant U.S. attorney and former FBI agent, echoed Pistone's words, calling Donlon “an upstanding member of law enforcement and an extremely principled person.”
“It doesn't make sense,” Carroll said of the raid. “I had the highest level of clearance. There's no way to explain it.”
“I would be absolutely shocked if he did anything wrong.”
