Mayor Adams on Friday said his campaign will “comply 100%” with FBI investigators involved in the raid of his top fund-raiser, adding he has full confidence in her.
In an interview on WPIX-TV, Adams said he hasn’t communicated with campaign fund-raiser Brianna Suggs “since this incident took place,” but said she has been in communication with the “team’s attorney” and they’re going to “continue to do so.”
“Where there’s smoke there’s not always fire. Listen, I make sure that we have real compliance,” he said during Friday’s PIX11 interview. “If anyone did something that’s inappropriate outside of our compliance procedures, the law enforcement agencies will determine that. This is new and evolving and we’re going to comply 100%.”
Read More: Who is Brianna Suggs? A look at the Adams fund-raiser targeted in FBI search
Adams also said Friday he has full confidence in Suggs, who is Black, and added that “often young African American ladies don’t get the opportunities that others receive in this business of politics.” Suggs credits herself for having raised $19 million to Adams’ successful mayoral campaign.
Adams said he has not been contacted by authorities, and he has not been publicly identified as a target in connection with the probe, which became public Thursday after the FBI raided Suggs’ Crown Heights address.
Suggs also has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
While the interview marked the first sit-down interview Adams since the FBI raided Suggs’ home, a top Adams’ City Hall staffer said Friday that the mayor would not hold his regularly scheduled press briefing next Tuesday because it falls on Election Day.
Deputy Mayor of Communications Fabien Levy told the Daily News Friday afternoon that because of the holiday, “the office is technically closed.”
“We’ll do another day next week,” Levy added, but would not specify exactly when.
When asked when reporters would have a chance to question Adams, Levy said he would “circle back.”
He did not immediately respond to a question about whether Adams’ team would consider expanding the number of off-topic availabilities to reporters.
As part of Adams’ relatively new press strategy, for the last several weeks, he has held one press briefing a week for reporters to ask questions of their choosing — so-called off-topic questions.
Since the story broke, Adams has largely avoided City Hall reporters and canceled a public flag-raising ceremony he had scheduled for Friday afternoon.
On Thursday, during a brief gaggle with a handful of reporters, he said he holds his “campaign to the highest ethical standards.”
Of Suggs, Adams said “She stood up. From an intern, became a good staffer and ran our entire fundraising apparatus.”