City Hall Aide Is Cooperating With Corruption Investigation Into Adams
An aide to Mayor Eric Adams who served as his longtime liaison to the Turkish community and whose home was searched by the F.B.I. has been cooperating with the corruption investigation into the mayor and his 2021 campaign, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
The cooperation of the aide, Rana Abbasova, could represent a significant development in the broad corruption inquiry, which has focused in part on whether Mr. Adams’s campaign conspired with the Turkish government to funnel illegal 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.
It was unclear what information Ms. Abbasova, the director of protocol for the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs, provided to the federal authorities. But she has been involved in or has had knowledge of some of Mr. Adams’s dealings with Turkish government officials and businessmen, according to emails. She also helped coordinate events and meetings with members of the Turkish community in New York and abroad and arranged some of his travel, accompanying him on two official trips to Turkey, records show.
Originally from Azerbaijan, Ms. Abbasova, 41, had worked for Mr. Adams for about four years in the Brooklyn borough president’s office before he became mayor. She began talking with the team of F.B.I. agents and federal prosecutors conducting the corruption investigation in the weeks after her home was searched on Nov. 2. On the same day, agents also searched the homes of the mayor’s chief fund-raiser and a former Turkish Airlines executive.
Like the mayor and others under scrutiny in the investigation, Ms. Abbasova has not been formally accused of wrongdoing. It is unclear whether she will plead guilty to any crimes in connection with her cooperation.
Her lawyer, Rachel Maimin, declined to comment on Monday, as did spokesmen for the U.S. attorney’s office and the F.B.I.