NYC NOW - August 16, 2024: Midday News

Episode Date: August 16, 2024

Federal immigration authorities have arrested a Peruvian gang leader in upstate New York. He’s suspected of being involved in 23 killings in his home country. Meanwhile, the NYPD is searching for at least three masked men linked to dozens of burglaries across the city in recent months. Plus, a City Hall spokesperson has confirmed Mayor Eric Adams was recently subpoenaed by federal authorities for communications related to his campaign fundraising. WNYC’s Brigid Bergin has more.

Welcome to NYC Now. Your source for local news in and around New York City from WMYC. It's Friday, August 16. Here's the midday news from Michael Hill. U.S. Immigration authorities say they've arrested a Peruvian gang leader in New York who's suspected in 23 killings in his home country. Immigration authorities say 30-year-old John Frankl Torres Navarro is the leader of the gang lost killers.

Officials say he entered the U.S. illegally at the Texas-Mexico border in May. Authorities took Torres Navarro into custody this week in Endicott, New York, after getting information he was wanted in Peru for a series of killings. Information on Torres Navarro's lawyer was not immediately available in the Online Immigration Detention Center records. The NYPD says it's looking for at least three masked men who've been, burglarized dozens of buildings over the last few months, stealing anything from coin machines to merchandise and cash. Officials say the group travels from Queens to Brooklyn to the Bronx,

breaking into apartment complexes and laundromats. Police say they usually drive away in cars with stolen plates, including a black Honda Odyssey. Call police if you have any information. 83 in sunny now, sunny and hot today all the way up to 88. And then tomorrow, partly sunny, 83 with a chance of rain Saturday night, and then on Sunday, a chance of showers and storms, likely in the afternoon, mostly cloudy and 80. Stay close. There's more after the break. A spokesperson from Mayor Adams confirms a New York Times report that the mayor was recently subpoenaed here to help us make sense of it is WNIC's senior politics reporter, Bridget Berg and Bridget. What exactly are we learning here in this New York Times report?

So Michael, what we learned is that this federal investigation into Mayor Adams in his campaign is really far from over. The Times reported that he, City Hall, and his campaign received grand jury subpoenas. Sometime last month, the subpoenas were confirmed to WNIC by both Fabian Levy, the deputy mayor for communications and chief city hall spokesman and by attorneys for the mayor. The subpoenas are fairly wide ranging in scope, according to the Times. They seek text messages, other communications, as well as. details related to his campaign fundraising. And while we don't know the entirety of the investigation's focus, the mayor's relationship with the Turkish government and whether his campaign received illegal foreign donations are reportedly part of this probe. Of course, Michael, I have to stress,

neither the mayor nor any of his associates have been charged with any wrongdoing at this time. In fact, his attorney, Brendan McGuire, says they have conducted their own investigation, including an evaluation of campaign documents and analysis of tens of thousands of electronic communications and witness interviews, and they have not found any evidence of illegal conduct by the mayor. How is this new? The mayor's campaign had been searched before, hadn't it? Yeah, about roughly nine months ago, the FBI raided the home of the mayor's top fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, you probably remember that, as well as Rana Abasova, an aide to Adams at City Hall. she'd also been the liaison to the Turkish community in Brooklyn Borough Hall and a man by the name of Sank O'Kahl, an ex-Turkish Airlines executive who served on Adams' transition team.

Now, around that same time, Michael, the FBI also seized the mayor's electronic devices. The investigation reportedly is looking into tides between the Turkish government, a Turkish construction company named KSK, and whether the Adams administration pressured the fire department to expedite safety inspections for the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan. Now, since that time, Michael, we really haven't heard a lot more about these investigations in this aspect of it, but we have seen the mayor's poll numbers sink, potential political opponents line up, and now with confirmation of these subpoenas, you know, it's really clear that these investigations have not gone away. And if anything, seemed to be escalating at a very politically important time for the mayor when he would otherwise be really gearing up for his reelection bid. Okay. Let's zoom out a bit, Bridget. Give us, if you can, the broader context about these investigations.

So really, you know, the broader context is that the mayor's campaign is facing very serious questions about their fundraising operations and whether what appeared to be in attention to the rules and law may have spilled over into areas of governing. On the campaign side, as we talked about, I reported at the end of last month on that draft audit report from the New York City Campaign Finance Board, which, you know, of course, provides that generous eight to one match for contributors here in the city. But to get that money, you have to adhere to the rules. And we know from the documentation supplied by the campaign so far, they had anonymous donations over the limit donations and very clear straw donations, where the person actually giving the money was either getting reimbursed or was just saying that money wasn't from. them. Now, Manhattan District Attorney Alpin Bragg already indicted six people in connection with a straw donor scheme to the campaign. Again, no one from the Adams campaign was implicated in those charges. His campaign told me in response to that story that they would respond to all the issues raised in that 900-page document. But, you know, again, these investigations have been hanging over

City Hall for months. And that creates political headaches for the mayor and his team. And I should note that right now he's the first incumbent mayor since Mayor Ed Koch in 1989 to face serious potential primary challengers. At this point, there were three all but declared candidates and potentially more waiting to see what happens with these investigations. The mayor is headed to Chicago to the DNC next week too. How does this look for his political future? Yeah, I mean, the timing is not great for him.

He said earlier this week that he was really looking forward to, being in Chicago, to talk with other Democratic Party leaders about the importance of public safety, and specifically how the city has handled asylum seekers. But, you know, those are difficult conversations, and they become that much harder given the cloud of more potential legal fallout for the mayor in his campaign. Now, I should note, Mayor de Blasio also faced dueling state and federal investigations in his first term related to fundraising, and they never really seemed to register as real issues to voters. In those cases, ultimately, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office and the Southern District announced on the same day that they would not be pressing charges

against Mayor de Blasio and his team, while also really criticizing their conduct. And of course, we know de Blasio went on to be easily reelected in 2017. So much more to come on these investigations and the impact on the Adams administration and possibly much more to come very soon. We know WNYC's Bridget Bergen is on the case. Bridget, thank you. Thank you. Thanks for listening. This is NYC now from WMYC.

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