Top Aides to Mayor Eric Adams Keep Getting Raided by the FBI

The federal government has seemingly found more reasons to probe close allies of Mayor Eric Adams. On Thursday, the FBI raided two Bronx homes owned by Adams aide Winnie Greco, as well as offices at the New World Mall in Queens, where Greco reportedly helped plan fundraisers for the mayor's 2021 campaign.

What are investigators looking for? And what do these searches have to do with the other federal investigation into the Adams campaign's ties to alleged Turkish straw donors?

According to the AP's law enforcement source, this investigation is being led by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn, which is separate from the investigation being done by Southern District prosecutors in Lower Manhattan—you know, the one that involves the raid of the homes of the mayor's young campaign aide and another City Hall aide this past fall, and that ensnared the mayor's cell phones. 

Thursday's actions appear to be connected to an alleged straw donor scheme run at the New World Mall in Queens, which the CITY reported on last year. Mall employees alleged that they were reimbursed for donations to Eric Adams's mayoral campaign, which they made at the urging of their employers. The CITY reported that Greco was "deeply involved" with around eight events at the mall, which raised thousands of dollars for Adams's 2021 campaign out of the Royal Queen restaurant on the top floor of the mall.

As if two federal investigations aren't enough, Adams's campaigns have also been targeted by the Manhattan DA's office. Just last month, two former Adams campaign fundraisers pled guilty to conspiracy charges for orchestrating a similar straw donor scheme during the 2021 campaign.

Greco, who makes $100,000 a year as Mayor Adams's special adviser and director of Asian Affairs, is also under scrutiny by the City's Department of Investigation after reporting by the CITY found that she may have improperly used her City position to receive renovations on one of her homes. 

The Adams administration released a statement on Thursday responding to the raids. "Our administration will always follow the law, and we always expect all our employees to adhere to the strictest ethical guidelines," the statement reads. "As we have repeatedly said, we don't comment on matters that are under review, but will fully cooperate with any review underway. The mayor has not been accused of any wrongdoing."

In an interview on Friday morning with PIX 11, Adams was asked if he had "full confidence" in Greco still. "Yes I do," the mayor replied.

The mayor also revealed that Greco is out on sick leave, after experiencing a "medical episode" during one of the FBI raids.

Mayor Adams's weekend plans? "I want to stay in my pajamas one weekend and watch old reruns of Twilight Zone," he told a different interviewer.

We have full confidence in these links:

• GrowNYC, the nonprofit which organizes most of the city's farmers markets, will lay off 54 staffers in May because of City budget cuts to its composting program.
• Remember when the NYPD's Chief of Department attacked a judge on Twitter? It was the wrong judge. And now Mayor Adams said the chief shouldn't have done it, a day after one of his spokespeople endorsed the shitposting.
• The Adams administration celebrates that most of the migrants that have come to the city are no longer in the City's charge. Gothamist found that many of them have ended up sleeping on the streets, contrary to the mayor's claims.
• An MTA conductor whose neck was slashed was aided by a pediatrician on the train.
• There's finally a hot pot restaurant for people who want to eat alone.
• Mayor Adams did a victory lap on PIX11 on his new commercial trash program.
• An MTA hearing over congestion pricing turned explosive, with one guy getting tossed out by security.
• NYCHA representatives were grilled regarding a bribery scandal that affected more than 100 developments and that led to more than 70 people being criminally charged.
• The State has created a commission to "study" reparations.
• This is just a nice photo: