Close confidant to Eric Adams gets raided, then goes on radio to talk about it

NEW YORK — Law enforcement officials were waiting at JFK Airport Friday for New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ closest confidante to return from an overseas vacation.

They seized her phone and raided her Brooklyn home — a dramatic episode that escalated their investigations into the mayor’s innermost circle on the same day he was arraigned on federal corruption charges.

Ingrid Lewis-Martin, the chief adviser to Adams whose friendship with the mayor stretches back four decades, was served as a subpoena by federal agents with the Southern District of New York, her lawyer Arthur Aidala said. Her devices were given to state agents with the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, he said.

Later Friday, in a surreal moment, Lewis-Martin described the encounter in a broadcast interview with Aidala, a famous criminal attorney who moonlights as a talk radio host.

Lewis-Martin maintained her innocence — as well as the mayor’s — but left open the possibility they acted outside the law.

“We are imperfect, but we’re not thieves,” she said on AM 970. “And I do believe that in the end that the New York City public will see that we have not done anything illegal to the magnitude or scale that requires the federal government and the DA’s office to investigate us.”

Videos circulated by news outlets Friday showed agents carrying boxes from Lewis-Martin’s row house. She was not home at the time of the raid, she said.

Friday’s raid served as a reminder that the scope of the investigations into the Democratic mayor’s orbit extends beyond the fraud and bribery charges he pleaded not guilty to on Friday.

Lewis-Martin will cooperate fully with investigators and is “not the target of any case of which we are aware.”

Reporters started milling around outside Lewis-Martin’s house on a quiet central Brooklyn street as soon as news broke from the search. Drivers slowed to scope out the hubbub as they passed TV crews filming live hits. There was no sign of Lewis-Martin herself and no one answered the doorbell Thursday evening.

City Hall declined to comment and referred POLITICO to Lewis-Martin’s attorney.

Lewis-Martin has been traveling with Jesse Hamilton, another Adams loyalist and a leader in the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

She admitted on Aidala’s show that she briefly scuffled with the agents who took her phone while describing them as professional and trying to do their job.

“I have to admit that I wasn’t as polite as I normally am, because I was annoyed, and I was like, ‘Well, I need a phone. I need something. You’ve to give me something back.’ And I got a little vociferous,” she said, adding that she later apologized to the officer.

Neither Aidala nor Lewis-Martin revealed what airline she flew to and from Japan.

Lewis-Martin has not been accused of wrongdoing.

Adams pleaded not guilty in Manhattan on Friday to five counts including fraud and bribery. Federal prosecutors allege have accepted lavish travel perks, illegal campaign contributions and other benefits from Turkish officials in exchange for fast-tracking the approval of the Turkish consulate in Manhattan.

Joe Anuta contributed to this report.