Mayor Adams confirmed Tuesday his legal defense trust isn’t bankrolling legal fees for Rana Abbasova, a longtime aide whose home was raided by the FBI last year as part of an investigation into ties between the Turkish government and Adams’ 2021 campaign.
“I am not paying for it, and I have no idea who is,” the mayor said during an afternoon press conference at City Hall.
Adams campaign lawyer Vito Pitta later clarified that Abbasova’s attorney costs are neither being picked up by the mayor personally nor by the trust, which he launched in November to raise cash for legal fees he and his campaign rack up during the Turkey-related probe.
Tuesday’s disclosure — which comes on the heels of last week’s news that Abbassova has been cooperating with the Manhattan federal prosecutors leading the investigation into Adams’ campaign — comes amid ongoing speculation over who is paying for her legal representation. Adams, whose cellphones were seized as part of the probe, has not been accused of any wrongdoing.
Rachel Maimin, a prominent white collar attorney retained by Abbasova shortly after the feds raided her New Jersey home in November, has repeatedly declined in recent months to say who is paying for her fees and Maimin didn’t return a request for comment Tuesday.
Maimin, a former federal prosecutor known for spearheading the criminal case against ex-Trump attorney Michael Cohen, is a partner at Lowenstein Sandler, a national law firm based in New Jersey specialized in white collar criminal defense.
In a recent federal court case in which she and other Lowenstein Sandler attorneys represented a pharmaceutical company, Maimin billed an hourly $1,200 fee for her services, paperwork reviewed by The News shows.
Meantime, Abbasova has been on unpaid leave from her $80,000-per-year job as a director of protocol in the mayor’s Office of International Affairs since shortly after her home was raided. Since being placed on leave, Abbasova has received three tickets in New Jersey for offenses typically linked to driving a for-hire vehicle, as previously reported by The News.
Pitta, Adams’ campaign attorney, also confirmed Tuesday the fund is not paying legal bills for Brianna Suggs, Adams’ chief political fundraiser whose home was also raided by the feds in November as part of the Turkey investigation. Unlike Abbasova, though, Suggs has been told she’ll be able to stay on the mayor’s campaign staff in a yet-to-be determined role.
Nov. 3, 2023: Feds raid Adams top fund raiser
New York Daily News Front page of the New York Daily News for Friday, Nov. 3, 2023: Feds raid Adams top fund raiser- Hit home of campaign money chief in corruption probe; mayor cans D.C. meeting, returns to NYC. Feds take boxes of material Thursday from Brooklyn home of Mayor Adams’ campaign fund raiser Brianna Suggs.
Suggs’ attorney did not return a request for comment.
The FBI probe is looking into allegations that the Turkish government funneled illegal donations into the mayor’s 2021 campaign via straw donors. Among other issues, the probe is reportedly scrutinizing a set of donations to Adams from employees of KSK, a Brooklyn construction company founded by Turkish nationals.
Abbasova hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing as part of the investigation itself but the mayor’s office said shortly after the investigation first became public last year that it had alerted federal authorities to alleged “improper” actions she had taken at work.
Sources later confirmed the impropriety in question was Abbasova allegedly telling coworkers to delete text exchanges with her.
Abbasova has worked for Adams since his days as Brooklyn borough president, serving as his liaison to the local Turkish-American community, among other ethnic groups.
