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agents early Thursday searched the homes of two senior New York Fire Department chiefs responsible for overseeing safety inspections while city investigators also searched the chiefs’ offices at the agency’s headquarters in Brooklyn, people with knowledge of the matter said. There was no immediate indication that the searches were part of a broad federal corruption investigation focused on Mayor Eric Adams and fund-raising for his 2021 campaign, although spokesmen for the F.B.I. A spokeswoman for the Department of Investigation could not immediately be reached for comment. Neither of the chiefs, Brian Cordasco and Anthony Saccavino, has been accused of wrongdoing. The Fire Department said in a statement that Commissioner Laura Kavanagh has “proactively” placed both chiefs on modified duty.

Persons: Eric Adams, Brian Cordasco, Anthony Saccavino, Laura Kavanagh Organizations: New York Fire Department, city’s Department of Investigation, U.S, Department, Fire Department Locations: Brooklyn, Manhattan

Mayor Eric Adams raised $732,000 in less than two months to pay for legal expenses related to a federal investigation into his campaign fund-raising, according to a filing submitted Tuesday. The contributors to Mr. Adams’s defense fund include an array of wealthy players in business and politics, among them at least four who have been described as billionaires: the former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, the Ukrainian-British oligarch Leonard Blavatnik, the real estate and fertilizer tycoon Alexander Rovt and the cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce. The fund has so far spent $440,000, most of it on WilmerHale, the law firm Mr. Adams hired to represent him in the investigation, the filing shows. City law permits elected officials to set up defense funds to pay for expenses related to criminal or civil investigations that are unrelated to their government duties and cannot be paid for with public money. The funds can collect up to $5,000 per donor but are not permitted to solicit or receive contributions from anyone with city contracts or business before the city.

Persons: Eric Adams, Michael Bloomberg, Leonard Blavatnik, Alexander Rovt, Brock Pierce, Adams Organizations: New, New York City Locations: New York, Ukrainian, British

Mayor Eric Adams of New York said on Tuesday that the 25-year-old woman he had chosen to manage his political fund-raising was no longer working in that role, weeks after a search of her home by the F.B.I. revealed a federal investigation into his campaign and plunged his administration into turmoil. The announcement by Mr. Adams was something of a reversal: He had previously said he had “full confidence” in the fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, adding that she was qualified for the job and that he would love for her to remain on his team. At his weekly press briefing on Tuesday, Mr. Adams declined to explain the reasons for the change, saying as he often does that he would not discuss private conversations. “She is no longer doing fund-raising for the campaign,” Mr. Adams said, in response to a question from a reporter.

Persons: Eric Adams, Adams, Brianna Suggs, ” Mr Locations: New York

The coordinated raids were the first public sign of a broad corruption investigation into the mayor’s 2021 campaign. and federal prosecutors in Manhattan are examining whether the Turkish government conspired with Mr. Adams’s campaign to funnel foreign donations into campaign coffers and whether Mr. Adams pressured Fire Department officials to sign off on a new high-rise Turkish consulate despite safety concerns. Both Ms. Abbasova and Mr. Öcal have ties to Turkey. She was Mr. Adams’s longtime liaison to the Turkish community when he served as Brooklyn borough president; he was the general manager of the New York office of Turkish Airlines until early last year. Ms. Abbasova, Mr. Öcal, Ms. Suggs and Mr. Adams have not been accused of wrongdoing.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Brianna Suggs, Rana Abbasova, Cenk, Adams, Abbasova, Öcal, Adams’s, Suggs Organizations: Turkish Airlines, Fire Department, New Locations: Turkey, New Jersey, Manhattan, Turkish, Brooklyn, New York

After federal authorities raided the home of Mayor Eric Adams’s chief fund-raiser on Nov. 2, a broad criminal inquiry into the fund-raising practices of Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign spilled into public view. Federal prosecutors and the F.B.I. are examining whether the campaign conspired with members of the Turkish government, including its consulate in New York, to receive illegal donations, according to a search warrant obtained by The New York Times. Here’s what we know about the investigation. The full scope of the federal criminal inquiry is not yet clear, but the investigation has focused at least in part on whether Mr. Adams’s 2021 campaign conspired with the Turkish government and Turkish nationals to receive illegal donations.

Persons: Eric Adams’s, Adams’s, Adams Organizations: The New York Times Locations: Turkish, New York

Mr. Adams already had a long-running relationship with the Turkish consulate general, which paid for part of his trip to Turkey while he was Brooklyn borough president in 2015, according to a public filing. The warrant to search the home of Mr. Adams’s 25-year-old fund-raiser, Brianna Suggs, indicated that the investigation was examining the role of KSK Construction, a Brooklyn building company owned by Turkish immigrants that organized a fund-raising event for Mr. Adams on May 7, 2021. On that day, 48 donors, including the company’s owners, employees and their families, along with others in the construction and real estate industries, donated $43,600, Mr. Adams’s campaign reports show. Mr. Adams’s campaign filings do not specify which donations were made through the fund-raising event. Neither Mr. Adams nor his campaign has been accused of wrongdoing, and no charges are publicly known to have been filed in connection with the investigation.

Persons: Adams, York City’s, Adams’s, Brianna Suggs, Suggs Organizations: Fire Department, Mr, Democratic Locations: Brooklyn, Manhattan, York, Turkish, Turkey

The agents approached the mayor on the street and asked his security detail to step away, one of the people said. with him and, pursuant to a court-authorized warrant, took his devices, the person said. Law enforcement investigators with a search warrant can make copies of the data on devices after they seize them. It was not immediately clear whether the agents referred to the fund-raising investigation when they took the mayor’s devices. The surprise seizure of Mr. Adams’s devices was an extraordinary development and appeared to be the first direct instance of the campaign contribution investigation touching the mayor.

Persons: Eric, Adams Locations: Turkish

It is a type of scheme that took down New York’s lieutenant governor last year, and sank the 2013 mayoral campaign of a top Democratic contender: the use of so-called straw donors to funnel illegal contributions to candidates from secret sources. Now, for the second time, the campaign of Mayor Eric Adams is being scrutinized for the same thing. And in July, six men were indicted in Manhattan in connection with a similar scheme, accused of funneling thousands to Mr. Adams’s campaign. Neither Mr. Adams nor Ms. Suggs have been accused of wrongdoing, and Mr. Adams has denied any knowledge of illegal contributions. But both investigations appear to be focused on whether donors who were eager to get Mr. Adams’s attention sought to mask large donations by funneling them through straw donors — and on who might have coordinated that effort.

Persons: Eric Adams, Brianna Suggs, Adams’s, Adams, Suggs Locations: Turkish, U.S, Manhattan

The July indictment accused Mr. Trump, Mr. De Oliveira and Mr. Nauta of trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage. The government had requested a trial date in December, while Mr. Trump’s lawyers asked for an indefinite postponement. Once he was sworn in as president, Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say. Ms. Maddock, who has close ties to Mr. Trump and is married to Matt Maddock, a state representative, accused Ms. Nessel of “a personal vendetta.”“This is part of a national coordinated” effort to stop Mr. Trump, she added.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Jack Smith, Fani, Willis, Mr, Alvin L, Bragg, Rudolph W, Giuliani, Mark Meadows, —, “, ” Mr, Brad Raffensperger, Joseph R, Biden, Emily Kohrs, “ You’re, ”, Ms, Smith’s, Smith, Prosecutors, Mike Pence, Walt Nauta, Carlos De Oliveira, De Oliveira, Nauta, ’, Stormy Daniels, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels, Karen McDougal, McDougal, Bragg’s, Juan M, Merchan, “ Trump, Merchan’s, Cyrus R, Vance Jr, Daniels’s, Hope Hicks, Kellyanne Conway, Allen H, Weisselberg, Mimi E, Rocah, Letitia James, James, Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka Trump, Michigan’s “, Dana Nessel, Meshawn Maddock, Maddock, Matt Maddock, Nessel, Wright Blake, Mayra Rodriguez, Kris Mayes, Richie Taylor, Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush, Jonah E, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Michael Gold, Michael Rothfeld, Ed Shanahan, Richard Fausset, Ashley Wong Organizations: Mr, Democrat, New, New York City, White House, Department, Georgia Republican Party, Trump, The New York Times, Capitol, Federal, Court, Congress, Justice Department, Mar, Manhattan, National Enquirer, Trump Tower, U.S, National, Trump Organization, Trump National Golf Club Westchester, New York, Civil, Michigan, Michigan Republican Party Locations: Manhattan, Georgia, Fulton County, Lago, New York, United States, Washington, Palm Beach, Fla, Mar, Lower Manhattan, Westchester County, Michigan, Arizona, Bromwich

☆ Former F.B.I. Spy Hunter Pleads Guilty to Aiding Russian Oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Michael Rothfeld | More About Michael Rothfeld | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Under the plea deal, the maximum prison term Mr. McGonigal could serve is five years, instead of the sentence of up to 20 years he might otherwise have faced. In court, Mr. McGonigal told the judge that he had known he could not legally perform services for Mr. Deripaska, who was placed on a U.S. sanctions list in 2018. The plea brings the prosecution of Mr. McGonigal, 55, in New York to a relatively speedy conclusion after fewer than seven months. agents in January at John F. Kennedy Airport upon his return from an overseas business trip. Mr. McGonigal has pleaded not guilty to those charges but is in talks to resolve them; his lawyer, Seth D. DuCharme, told the judge overseeing the Washington case that he expected to provide an update on the talks after Labor Day.

Persons: McGonigal, Deripaska, Vladimir Potanin, Potanin, John F, Seth D, DuCharme Organizations: Mr, Kennedy, Washington, Labor Locations: Cyprus, New Jersey, New York, Washington, Eastern Europe

The indictment said Mr. Trump and six unnamed co-conspirators had pushed state legislators and election officials to change electoral votes won by Mr. Biden to votes for Mr. Trump. The July indictment accused Mr. Trump, Mr. De Oliveira and Mr. Nauta of trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage. Once he was sworn in as president, Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say. The court papers also referred to a payment to a former Trump Tower doorman who claimed that Mr. Trump had fathered a child out of wedlock.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Jack Smith, Alvin L, Bragg, Joseph R, Biden Jr, Biden, Prosecutors, Mike Pence, Mr, Smith, Walt Nauta, Smith’s, Carlos De Oliveira, De Oliveira, Nauta, ’, Stormy Daniels, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels, Karen McDougal, McDougal, Bragg’s, Juan M, Merchan, “ Trump, Merchan’s, Mimi E, Rocah, Letitia James, James, Donald Jr, Eric, Ivanka Trump, Maggie Haberman, Glenn Thrush, Jonah E, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Michael Gold, Michael Rothfeld, Ed Shanahan, Richard Fausset, Ashley Wong Organizations: Mr, Capitol, Federal, Court, Congress, Justice Department, Mar, Manhattan, National Enquirer, Trump Tower, U.S, Trump Organization, Trump National Golf Club Westchester, New York, Civil, New, Trump Locations: Manhattan, Lago, United States, Palm Beach, Fla, Mar, New York, Westchester County, Bromwich

By the time he reached middle age, Charlie McGonigal was living a comfortable suburban life. He had married and raised two children in a tidy Maryland neighborhood near the Capital Beltway. He coached his co-workers on an office softball team and went to church on Sundays. Apart from his outward image as a wholesome and responsible G-man, however, there was another, less visible side to Mr. McGonigal, federal prosecutors and his former colleagues say. But a close look at Mr. McGonigal’s life and career reveals an arc that appears to have little or nothing to do with espionage and international intrigue.

Persons: Charlie McGonigal, “, ”, Charles Franklin McGonigal, McGonigal, McGonigal’s Organizations: Federal Bureau of Investigation Locations: Maryland, Ohio, New York, Russian, Russia

Mr. Trump was also charged with attempting to obstruct an official proceeding — the certification of the election results by Congress. The indictment said Mr. Trump and six unnamed co-conspirators had pushed state legislators and election officials to change electoral votes won by Mr. Biden to votes for Mr. Trump. The July indictment accused Mr. Trump, Mr. De Oliveira and Mr. Nauta of trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say. Mr. Trump faced a second criminal investigation in New York related to financial dealings at a Trump Organization golf course in Westchester County.

Mr. Trump was also charged with attempting to obstruct an official proceeding — the certification of the election results by Congress. The indictment said Mr. Trump and six unnamed co-conspirators had pushed state legislators and election officials to change electoral votes won by Mr. Biden to votes for Mr. Trump. The July indictment accused Mr. Trump, Mr. De Oliveira and Mr. Nauta of trying to delete Mar-a-Lago security footage. Once he was sworn in as president, Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say.

☆ Ex-F.B.I. Official in Talks to Resolve Charges of Working for Oligarch
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-07 | by ( Michael Rothfeld | More About Michael Rothfeld | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

A former senior F.B.I. official is in talks to resolve criminal charges in two separate indictments, including entering a possible guilty plea as early as next week in a case involving accusations that he worked for a Russian oligarch, according to a public filing and statements by his lawyer in court. Mr. McGonigal was also charged by federal prosecutors in Washington with concealing his relationship with a businessman who paid him $225,000, as well misleading the F.B.I. about his contacts with foreign nationals and foreign travel, creating a conflict of interest with his official duties. Mr. McGonigal pleaded not guilty to both indictments.

Persons: Charles F, McGonigal, Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir V, Putin, Jennifer H, ” Locations: Russian, York, New York, Washington

Once he was sworn in as president, Mr. Trump reimbursed Mr. Cohen. Rather than publish her account, the tabloid suppressed it in cooperation with Mr. Trump and Mr. Cohen, prosecutors say. Legal experts say that Mr. Trump and others appear to be at “substantial risk” of prosecution for violating a number Georgia statutes, including the state’s racketeering law. But if she were to prevail at trial, a judge could impose steep financial penalties on Mr. Trump and restrict his business operations in New York. Ms. James’s investigators questioned Mr. Trump under oath in April, and a trial is scheduled for October.

Persons: Donald J, Trump, Trump’s, Jack Smith, Alvin L, Bragg, Stormy Daniels, Michael D, Cohen, Daniels, Karen McDougal, McDougal, Brad Raffensperger, Biden’s, —, Emily Kohrs, “ You’re, ”, “, Willis, Jan, Mr . Biden, Smith, Mike Pence, Mark Meadows, Letitia James, Mr, James, Donald Jr, Eric, Jonah E, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Michael Gold, Michael Rothfeld, Ed Shanahan, Richard Fausset, Ashley Wong Organizations: Capitol, Manhattan, National Enquirer, Mr, ., The New York Times, Justice Department, Trump, Prosecutors, White House, Trump White House, New York, Civil, New Locations: Manhattan, Georgia, . Georgia, Fulton County, United States, Washington, Trump’s, New, New York, Bromwich

☆ The Trump Indictment, Annotated: Analyzing the 34 Charges
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-04 | by ( Michael Rothfeld | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Mr. Trump pleaded not guilty in court on Tuesday. That scheme also included hush-money payments to a second woman who said she had an affair with Mr. Trump and to a former Trump doorman who made an unproven claim that Mr. Trump had an out-of-wedlock child, Mr. Bragg said Tuesday. The 34 Charges Against Donald J. Trump Mr. Trump is accused of disguising reimbursements to Michael Cohen as legal fees to hide a hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels. 11 counts Related to checks Checks were written by Mr. Trump or using his funds to reimburse Mr. Cohen. Read the Donald Trump Indictment ›The New York Times annotated the documents.

Persons: Donald J, Trump’s, Michael D, Cohen, Stormy Daniels, Trump, Alvin L, Bragg, reimbursements, Michael Cohen, Read, Donald Trump Organizations: Trump, Trump Mr, Cohen Prosecutors, New York Times Locations: Manhattan, New York State

☆ The Donald Trump Indictment, Annotated
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-16 | by ( Michael Rothfeld | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

☆ Longtime Trump CFO Weisselberg gets 5 months in jail in tax fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Allen Howard Weisselberg, the former Trump Organization CFO, appears for sentencing for tax fraud scheme in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., January 10, 2023. Weisselberg, 75, is expected to be sent to New York's notorious Rikers Island jail. Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. The jail time will probably not be easy for Weisselberg, at a facility known for violence, drugs and corruption. Weisselberg testified that Trump signed bonus and tuition checks, and other documents at the heart of prosecutors' case, but was not in on the tax fraud scheme.

☆ Rikers expert says Allen Weisselberg will get better treatment as a prominent Trump supporter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Trump's ex-CFO, Allen Weisselberg, was sentenced Tuesday to five months in NYC's Rikers jail. Rikers guards love Trump and will give better treatment to Weisselberg, 75, one expert predicts. Being 75 years old and in the news will also help Weisselberg, predicted the expert, Five Mualimmak-Ak, a jail-reform activist and former detainee who visits Rikers frequently. "Ninety-percent of the guards are Trump supporters, even though most of them are Black and Latino women," said Mualimmak-Ak, program director for LIFE Camp, a city-based nonprofit. "So he'll get preferential treatment from the guards because he is a Trump supporter.

☆ Trump executive Weisselberg prepares for jail on Rikers Island
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Those days will probably not be easy for Weisselberg, 75, at a jail known for violence, drugs and corruption. After being sentenced, Weisselberg will likely be driven to Rikers and trade his street clothes for a uniform and sneakers with velcro straps. Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. It is paying Rothfeld as well, a person familiar with the matter said. Merchan will also sentence the Trump Organization on Friday.

☆ Trump's top money man, Allen Weisselberg, is braced to begin time at NYC's notorious Rikers jail on Tuesday
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-09 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

A judge will likely order he immediately begin serving 5 months in NYC's notorious Rikers Island. Himself a veteran of Rikers, Rothfeld did say this — it won't be easy. A board containing confiscated shanks from Rikers Island is displayed during a press conference with Mayor Eric Adams on Rikers Island on June 22, 2022. The Rikers Island jail complex in New York City, with the Manhattan skyline in the background. The Trump Organization now faces up to $1.6 million in fines; Merchan is scheduled to set the amount at a January 13 sentencing.

☆ As Trump Org's jail-bound ex-CFO testifies, Harvey Weinstein's prison consultant is watching
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-17 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Jail-bound Allen Weisselberg, Trump's ex-CFO, is testifying in the Trump Org tax-fraud trial. Harvey Weinstein's prison coach, Craig Rothfeld, is sitting with the ex-CFO's lawyers, watching. Clearly still loyal to Trump, his boss since the mid-'80s, Weisselberg has been doing a delicate dance on the witness stand. If he displeases prosecutors, the 75-year-old accountant could find himself serving a state prison term. Prosecutors, though, must prove that Weisselberg intended this benefit to the company, something he has yet to say.

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