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How the Brooklyn company involved in Mayor Adams’ FBI probe avoided fundraising disclosures
By
Charles Lane
and
Jon Campbell
Published Nov 9, 2023
Modified Nov 9, 2023
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David Brand/Gothamist
By
Charles Lane
and
Jon Campbell
Published Nov 9, 2023
Modified Nov 9, 2023
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A New York construction company threw a fundraising party for Eric Adams in 2021 that managed to avoid disclosure under city campaign laws requiring the company to register with the city’s Campaign Finance Board.
KSK, a Brooklyn-based construction company with strong Turkish ties, is believed to be at the center of a federal inquiry into campaign donations for the mayor. The company came under scrutiny after FBI agents raided the home of Adams’ top fundraiser Brianna Suggs and the New York Times obtained a warrant suggesting foreign nationals associated with KSK may have donated through a straw donor scheme.
Neither Adams nor Suggs have been accused of any wrongdoing and it remains unclear who the FBI is targeting in the investigation.
According to interviews and campaign finance data, KSK and the Turkish American Business Network invited some two dozen people to a fundraising event at KSK’s Williamsburg office in May 2021. Election lawyers interviewed by Gothamist said the company should have registered as a campaign “intermediary” but there’s no record of it having done so.
The Adams campaign disputes that the event qualified KSK as an intermediary, saying it compensated the company for the event and therefore was the official sponsor. But no record exists in the Campaign Finance Board's files of any payment to KSK on behalf of the Adams campaign, and the campaign has not provided any receipts to Gothamist.
“None of those inquiries were flagged as possible straw donors," said Adams campaign spokesperson Evan Thies in a statement. "The inquiries were about possible unreported intermediaries, of which there were none required to be reported."
According to election law, when someone “solicits contributions to a candidate” that person is required to fill out an intermediary statement declaring the donations they helped bundle.
It’s unclear whether the party is related to the FBI’s search. KSK did not return multiple requests for comment.
The May event yielded nearly $75,000 with matching funds, according to Campaign Finance Board records.
“It was at KSK’s offices,” said Tahir Demircioglu, an architect who attended the fundraiser. “It's not a big office, between 30 and 50 people, I would say.”
Attendees said people of Turkish descent make up much of the company’s staff.
According to Campaign Finance Board records, the Adams campaign lists four intermediaries, none of whom bundled donations in May 2021, the time of the KSK party.
“In my opinion, it is a fundraiser,” said Sara Steiner, an election lawyer who specializes in city election law. “There would be an intermediary form filled out by whoever it was who was organizing and inviting people to the fundraiser.”
According to campaign finance records, 38 people who listed their occupation or company as affiliated in the construction industry donated money to Adams that night, May 7, 2021. Their donations totaled $34,620, and $5,000 of that was then matched 8-to-1 with tax dollars for a grand total of $74,620.
“I would say most of them were Turkish and mostly in construction,” said Metehan Akdag, an engineering consultant who also attended the event. “Mostly people who work with KSK.”
He described a meeting that’s fairly typical in city politics.
“People brought checks, and I think I donated through a webpage,” Akdag said, who added that there was a suggested donation. “They were saying that it should be around $250.”
Akdag said most of the people who attended the event sought work from KSK — subcontractors who get in the company’s good graces have a better chance of getting jobs when they come up.
“That's how it is throughout the whole industry,” he said.
'You want to know who's involved'
The rules around fundraising transparency are meant to discourage quid pro quo relationships between donors and elected officials.
“It's a perfect example of why the intermediary rule is really useful,” Steiner, the election lawyer, said. “Businesses that are dependent on them for contracts, who are in turn dependent on the city, you really do want to know who's involved in this because that's the kind of thing that can lead to corruption.”
KSK has at least 33 active construction jobs in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, Department of Buildings records show. Some of the projects have scores of complaints, inspection requests and permits pending before city agencies.
Steiner said the city’s Campaign Finance Board, which is in charge of checking candidate disclosures, typically assigns an auditor to each campaign.
The Campaign Finance Board declined to comment on its correspondence with the Adams campaign regarding this party.
"The campaign appropriately responded to each and every flag made by the CFB as required," Thies said.
The CFB suggested the rules need clarification.
“A host of a fundraiser that's organized independently of the campaign must be reported as an intermediary,” Eric Friedman, assistant executive director of the Campaign Finance Board, said in an interview. “This discussion about intermediaries is a perfect example of a law that needs to be reviewed to ensure that it's meeting the challenges of the way that campaigns work today.”
Attendees at the fundraiser at KSK’s offices describe the event as minor.
“It’s insane, this was a small fundraiser,” Demircioglu said. “This is a witch hunt, in my personal opinion there is nothing to look at.”
Suggs, the Adams campaign fundraiser and consultant whose home the FBI raided last week, also donated $20 the night of KSK’s event, according to records.
'He's practically Turkish'
Attendees of the May event described many of KSK’s employees as still working at their desks when Adams arrived. He stayed for approximately half an hour, and spent most of his time there on a phone call in a separate office. Adams took photos with several attendees and answered their questions.
“He gave a very short speech,” Akdag said. “His joke was that he's practically Turkish because every time he flies somewhere he takes Turkish Airlines and he lays over in Istanbul.”
When Adams helped raise a flag in the Financial District late last month to mark the 100th anniversary of day Turkey becoming a republic, he repeated another favorite quip: “New York City is the Istanbul of America."
The FBI raided Suggs' home a week later, placing a spotlight on the mayor's long-held fascination with the republic, which dates back to when he was a Brooklyn-based state senator roughly a decade ago — long before he would become borough president and mayor.
As Brooklyn borough president, Adams made multiple trips to the country at the border of Asia and Europe — which he’s repeatedly touted over the years. But it’s far from the only foreign country he’s visited or promoted; Adams has frequently traveled abroad as an elected official, and has hosted dozens of flag-raising ceremonies since taking office.
“I'm probably the only mayor in the history of this city that has not only visited Turkey — Türkiye — once, but I think I'm on my sixth or seventh visit to Türkiye,” Adams said at the October ceremony, using the country’s preferred pronunciation.
On PIX11’s “PIX on Politics” on Sunday, Adams said he doesn’t have a specific fascination with Turkey; it’s a fascination with all countries with significant immigrant communities in New York City.
Clarification: This story has been updated to include comment and information provided by the Adams campaign.
Tagged
new york city
construction
campaign finance laws
Politics
real estate
eric adams
Charles Lane
Charles is a Day-of reporter focused on breaking news and enterprise. He’s very friendly and can be reached at [email protected], or more securely on whatsapp/signal 631-295-6715
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Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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