A court order issued Wednesday revealed that the city Department of Investigation (DOI) has an ongoing investigation of whether Mayor Eric Adams violated ethics laws — a probe that is proceeding even after the mayor got his corruption case tossed after the Trump Justice Department abandoned it.
Manhattan Federal Judge Dale Ho revealed the existence of DOI’s investigation in issuing an order that opens the door for DOI to use material from the defunct federal indictment in its continuing conflict-of-interest probe of the mayor. The evidence is to be kept under seal.
A spokesperson for DOI Commissioner Jocelyn Strauber on Wednesday declined to comment on the investigation.
Ho’s decision also frees up the city Campaign Finance Board (CFB) to use the material in its ongoing audits and investigations of Adams’ 2021 and 2025 campaigns. The mayor’s fundraising tactics were at the heart of the federal case brought by the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office.
In September 2024, Adams became the first New York City mayor in modern times to be indicted. He was charged with soliciting and accepting illegal straw donations — including some from sources connected to the Turkish government — in his quest to obtain $10 million in public matching funds in 2021. Prosecutors also alleged he accepted free flight upgrades, hotel stays and other travel perks in exchange for doing favors for Turkish officials.
The Trump Department of Justice moved to dismiss his case early this year, admitting that it hadn’t assessed the merits of the case but needed Adams’ full-time collaboration on the administration’s campaign to deport undocumented individuals. In April, Ho reluctantly agreed to toss the charges but questioned the department’s rationale, writing that the transaction “smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”
Ho had ordered the case dismissed “with prejudice,” meaning the same charges — campaign finance fraud and bribery — could not be brought against Adams again.
The mayor’s office referred questions to Adams’ campaign operation. A campaign lawyer did not immediately respond to THE CITY’s outreach.
The thrust of the Campaign Finance Board’s investigation has emerged in public filings over the last few months as CFB repeatedly denied Adams’ re-election campaign public funds due to what the board found to be his noncompliance with its rules. That included failing to disclose the true source of some donors and potential in-kind payments to his campaigns. A spokesperson for the CFB declined to comment Wednesday.
The focus of DOI’s continuing conflict-of-interest investigation is not clear. The federal indictment alleges that Adams — after he won the 2021 primary but before he became mayor — pressured FDNY officials to speed up approval of a fire suppression system in Turkey’s new consulate building in Midtown over the objections of fire safety inspectors.
At the time, Adams had been receiving airline upgrades and allegedly illegal straw donations arranged by Turkish officials, prosecutors alleged. The indictment quoted an aide who was at the center of the interactions with Turkish officials as stating it was Adams’ “turn” to return the favor for the perks. Adams, according to the indictment, responded, “I know.”
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