Mayor Eric Adams has denied knowing anything about the construction firm at the center of a federal investigation into his campaign finances — while acknowledging he has been in contact with his major fundraiser, whose home was raided last week.
Hizzoner was asked directly during an interview with PIX11’s Dan Mannarino if he knew or had worked with anyone from Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based KSK Construction Group.
“Not to my knowledge,” the New York City mayor responded in comments made public Sunday. “I am not familiar with this organization at all … It is one of many different groups and organizations that contributed to the campaign.”
Meanwhile, Hizzoner revealed that he had been “communicating” with Briana Suggs, his 25-year-old fundraiser, after FBI agents threw the Crown Heights, Brooklyn, pad bright and early Thursday as part of their investigation into potential public corruption.
“I have been in communication with him since this incident happened,” the mayor said. “He communicated with team counsel, and they will continue to do so.”
Law enforcement sources have told The Post that federal agents are searching the home for evidence of a possible conspiracy to funnel foreign money illegally through KSK from Turkey and into Adams’ campaign coffers in exchange for favors.
Mayor Eric Adams has denied knowing anything about the construction firm at the center of a campaign finance investigation. The mayor said he has been in contact with Briana Suggs, a prominent fundraiser for him, since the feds raided his Brooklyn home Thursday.
As of Sunday, neither KSK, Arkan, Adams, Suggs nor anyone else had been charged with any crime.
The alleged plot reportedly centers on would-be straw donors: people or companies whose identities are illegally used to make donations in their names to hide their true source.
Campaign finance records show that 11 KSK employees all donated to Adams’ campaign on the same day in 2021 and for roughly the same amount — including one employee who said he didn’t remember making the $1,250 amount listed.
Contributions totaled nearly $14,000.
The mayor, who has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, has tried to downplay the FBI raid, saying in a PIX interview that he still has “full confidence” in Suggs, a young politician who boasts that he raised more than $18 million for the campaign. in 2021.
“Where there’s smoke, there’s not always fire,” Adams told Mannarino, adding that his campaign would comply “100 percent” with the investigation.
The Feds raided the Crown Heights brownstone where Suggs lived. Federal Agent Paul Martinka is looking for evidence that a construction firm and the Turkish government may have conspired to funnel illegal foreign money into the Adams campaign in exchange for aid. The owner of NYPost KSK is Erden Arkan, whose firm is at the center of a campaign finance investigation.instragram @erden1949 No one has been charged with a crime so far.
“He has done an amazing job,” he added.
Despite his recent efforts to minimize the raid and its aftermath, Adams took the news so seriously that he was suddenly bailed on a meeting schedule with White House officials when news of the raid broke Thursday.
Law enforcement sources told The Post that the feds had been waiting for Hizzoner to get out of town before they raided Suggs’ brownstone.
But Adams quickly returned to the Big Apple, skipping a highly sought-after meeting with Biden administration officials and other big-city mayors over the country’s growing immigration crisis.
“I was informed by our team that something was going on with the campaign staff, and I wanted to be here to make sure we were in full compliance,” Adams said.
“I have one of the best compliance teams any campaign has ever put together.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
