Rana Abbasova

In the immediate aftermath of the November 2, 2023 FBI raid of the home of Eric Adams’s chief fundraiser Brianna Suggs, Vito Pitta (see entries), the lawyer for the Adams campaign, said that the campaign had “started an extensive review of all documents and actions by campaign workers connected to the contributors in question.” Soon after, the campaign claimed it did find something, and someone: One staffer had acted “improperly,” and Adams’s lawyers alerted the FBI to let them know about it. According to reporting by the New York Post, that staffer was Rana Abbasova, the director of protocol for the Mayor’s Office for International Affairs. And the “improper” behavior? Federal investigators had raided not only Suggs’s apartment on November 2, but Abbasova’s Fort Lee, New Jersey, home as well, and in response, had apparently told other staffers to delete text messages, the Post reported. 

Federal agents soon seized the mayor’s phones and iPad, and Abbasova was soon placed on leave. 

So who is Rana Abbasova, and how did she become someone the Adams administration was willing to flag to the FBI? Abbasova, whose family is from Azerbaijan, started volunteering for Adams during his first term as Brooklyn borough president, at a time when he was trying “to make inroads to the Turkish and Azerbaijani communities in Brooklyn.” When she was hired as Adams’s community coordinator at Borough Hall, she was, in the words of her official bio, “responsible for international relations and maintaining relationships between the Borough President and stakeholders, including the Middle East and Central Asian countries, Muslim and Russian-speaking communities, and Non-profit organizations” and “also organized Turkic Heritage events.”

At City Hall, Abbasova continued roughly the same work, like helping facilitate a flag-raising event for Turkey near Wall Street. (Other official responsibilities included vetting and setting up meetings with foreign delegations and creating events for their visits.)

But beyond these low-stakes events, Abbasova was apparently helping Adams rake in much more than just photo ops with visiting dignitaries. During Adams’s time as Brooklyn borough president, he would accept offers of free airfare and lodging to visit their countries—undisclosed trips, many of which we now know, thanks to federal prosecutors, that Abbasova helped coordinate, that have come back to haunt him. 

Abbasova remained suspended by City Hall for much of 2024, but she stayed busy. According to news reports, federal prosecutors were zeroing in on Adams’s travels to Turkey, on both official and unofficial business. “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 flag-raising just weeks before the raids, with Abbasova standing behind him. One of those trips was with his son, Jordan Coleman, which he described as “one of the most joyful times of my life;” another was with Abbasova, before she was a paid member of his staff. Adams has also stated that he once met Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan during a dinner for an unidentified nonprofit while he was borough president.  

City Hall did not respond to a request for comment regarding Abbasova.

In May, NY1 reported that Abbasova was cooperating with federal prosecutors looking into Eric Adams’s ties to Turkish officials, donors, and businessmen, and in September 2024, the big one dropped—Eric Adams was indicted by prosecutors from the Southern District of New York on charges including bribery, fraud, and campaign finance violations. Throughout the indictment, there are numerous references to a “Liaison to Eastern Europe Muslim Countries” who “coordinated many of the illegal campaign contributions and improper personal travel benefits relevant to this Indictment.”

This individual, though unnamed in the indictment, is almost certainly Abbasova. According to the indictment, Abbasova had for almost a decade acted as a go-between between Adams and people from Turkey, allegedly setting up Adams with free hotel rooms, free airline upgrades, and free flights. According to the indictment, Abbasova  coordinated “improper personal travel benefits” for Adams.

Adams came to rely on Turkish Airlines so much that he would even fly through Istanbul when it was out of his way, which led to his partner, Tracey Collins, asking one time why he was in Turkey when he was flying to France. “Transferring here. You know first stop is always instanbul [sic],” the mayor replied. Collins even once had Adams ask Turkish Airlines if they flew to Easter Island (they do not).

Another trip that was detailed in the indictment: Adams, an unidentified Adams family member (likely his son Jordan), and an unidentified Asian American liaison staffer (almost certainly Winnie Greco) flew for free in business class to China, Sri Lanka, and France in July and August 2017.

In addition to coordinating the flights, federal prosecutors also allege that Abbasova also helped operate a straw donor scheme on behalf of Turkish nationals. 

According to the indictment, in 2018, Adams was already fundraising for his 2021 mayoral campaign. That year, a Turkish fan of Adams offered to help him fundraise internationally, a violation of campaign finance laws. “Fund Raising in Turkey is not legal, but I think I can raise money for your campaign off the record,” the Turkish citizen told the staff member (who, again, is certainly Abbasova).

“How will [ADAMS] declare that money here?” replied that staffer. 

“He won’t declare it…Or…We’ll make the donation through an American citizen in the U.S…A Turk…I’ll give cash to him in Turkey…Or I’ll send it to an American…He will make a donation to you,” the Turkish citizen replied. 

The staffer replied that they believed Adams wouldn’t be OK with the arrangement, even though the Turkish citizen was offering $100,000 to Adams.

“I think he wouldn’t get involved in such games. They might cause a big stink later on…but…I’ll ask anyways,” the staffer replied.

According to the indictment, “contrary to the Adams Staffer’s expectations, ADAMS directed that the Adams Staffer pursue the Promoter’s illegal scheme.” This was not an isolated incident, per federal prosecutors—they say Adams repeatedly signed off on other alleged straw donor schemes for both his 2021 and 2025 mayoral campaigns. 

In addition, according to the indictment, Abbasova even helped Adams cover up the gifts from Turkish Airlines, which would ring alarm bells from regulators if disclosed. Take this exchange from the indictment, for example:

So what do federal prosecutors say that Turkish officials got in return from Adams, as a result of all of these gifts and illegal donations?

Well, according to the indictment, Adams in return decided to not commemorate the Armenian genocide, and cut off ties with a Gulenist community center. 

But the largest lift for the Turkish government, according to the indictment, was this—in August and September of 2021, Turkish officials allegedly pressed Adams to get FDNY clearance for the country’s brand-new Midtown high-rise consulate, whose opening was being held up by FDNY inspectors who found the building unsafe.

That includes a September 5, 2021 phone call where the Turkish official allegedly said, according to the indictment, “because Turkey had supported ADAMS, it was now ‘his turn’ to support Turkey.” Abbasova then allegedly “relayed this message to ADAMS, and ADAMS responded, ‘I know.'”

According to the indictment, Adams then set up a call with the FDNY commissioner at the time, Daniel A. Nigro, to try to get the FDNY’s own safety inspection team to relent. Reviewing a report that the consulate had produced to show the building was safe, the FDNY’s own inspector found that “this document does not take any liability that we would be comfortable with. I believe it actually tells us this building is not safe to occupy.” 

At the time this was all playing out, Nigro had allegedly communicated to Adams that he was hoping to be reappointed as fire commissioner when Adams became mayor. After Adams continued to text Nigro about the issue with increasing urgency, the indictment claims that FDNY then went around normal inspection procedures to conditionally approve the building. (Nigro, btw, was not reappointed.) 

On September 10, 2021, according to the indictment, Adams texted a Turkish official, “From the commissioner: Letter being drafted now. Everything should be good to go Monday morning.” “You are Great Eric, we are so happy to hear that 🙏🙏. You are a true friend of Turkey,” that official replied. Adams responded, “Yes even more a true friend of yours. You are my brother. I am hear [sic] to help.”

Incriminating interactions with Turkish officials were not exactly what Abbasova wanted federal investigators to find when they raided her home last November, which is probably why, as they were interviewing her, Abbasova asked to use the restroom in her Fort Lee, New Jersey, home, and then, according to the indictment, “excused herself to a bathroom and, while there, deleted the encrypted messaging applications she had used to communicate with ADAMS, the Promoter, the Turkish Official, the Airline Manager, and others.” 

She wasn’t alone in deleting texts, per the indictment: “The Adams Staffer texted ADAMS, ‘To be o[n the] safe side Please Delete all messages you send me.’ ADAMS responded, ‘Always do.'”

Adams’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, has countered that Abbasova wasn’t entirely truthful to federal investigators when they raided her home, and isn’t telling the truth about her interactions with the mayor now as a cooperating witness. 

Unlike almost every other Adams staffer who has departed City Hall in the days leading up to and after Adams’s indictment, Abbasova wasn’t given an opportunity to leave on her own terms: She was finally fired by City Hall in early October 2024. 

But Abbasova might end up seeing her former employer again someday soon—not in a swanky hotel in Istanbul, but most likely testifying against him in a courtroom. 

Last updated by Hell Gate: 10/09/2024