The federal investigation into Mayor Eric Adams came into public view in November 2023, when Adams abruptly left Washington and returned to the city after the home of his chief campaign fundraiser was raided.

Days later, FBI agents seized the mayor’s iPad and cell phone. At the time, the chief counsel at City Hall, Lisa Zornberg, said “we are fully cooperative.”

NY1 had learned federal investigators were looking into whether the Adams campaign conspired with a Brooklyn construction company and the Turkish government to steer foreign money into his campaign.

In November 2023, Adams declared, “I would be shocked if someone states if our campaign coordinated in illegal behavior.”

Ten months later, former U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced “campaign finance bribery and conspiracy charges against Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City.”

On September 27, 2024, the mayor pleaded not guilty to the five federal criminal charges filed against him. Adams’ criminal defense attorney Alex Spiro said during a press conference, “courtesies to politicians are not federal crimes.”

Weeks after his indictment, there appeared to be support for the mayor from a seemingly unlikely source, Donald Trump.

Following Donald Trump’s election night victory, the mayor met with Trump’s incoming border czar at Gracie Mansion and then went on a surprise trip to President Trump’s inauguration, fueling speculation Adams might be angling for a presidential pardon.

Just over a week after the mayor’s attorneys met with Department of Justice officials in Washington, the Deputy Attorney General sent a letter to local federal prosecutors in New York saying there should be no further targeting of Mayor Adams, calling for the case to be dropped.