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    • Eric Adams “forgot” his password when the FBI picked up his phone, FBI agents say
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    Eric Adams “forgot” his password when the FBI picked up his phone, FBI agents say

    Madoc Meredith Posted on

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    Who among us hasn’t misplaced a password?

    There is hardly a device or service that does not require a unique sequence of numbers, letters, phrases – or fingerprints and facial expressions – before the user can access what is rightfully theirs.

    Or rightly ordered by the court.

    Last November, New York City Mayor Eric Adams told FBI agents that he had made an innocent mistake by changing and then forgetting his cellphone’s passcode, making it difficult for investigators to examine the contents.

    A five-count federal indictment unsealed Thursday in Manhattan says it was more than just a gaffe.

    More: New York Mayor Eric Adams is indicted on bribery and foreign financing charges

    Prosecutors allege Adams accepted illegal foreign donations from Turkey, defrauded the city’s public campaign finance program and relied on the fire department to facilitate the opening of a new Turkish consulate skyscraper without a safety inspection.

    Adams, who has maintained his innocence, is the first sitting New York mayor to be charged in modern times.

    Phone calls, phone stands

    The 57-page indictment is peppered with cellphone shenanigans, a damning trail that includes messages in which an Adams campaign staffer allegedly exploited the chance to receive $100,000 in illegal Turkish donations during the 2021 mayoral race. (Adams won the Democratic primary that year by just under 7,000 votes.)

    On November 2 last year, the former police captain was in Washington for a meeting at the White House when he learned that the FBI had visited the home of his top fundraiser, Brianna Suggs. Suggs called Adams five times before answering the door, prosecutors say.

    The mayor canceled the meeting at the White House and rushed back to New York.

    During an interview with the FBI, an Adams employee apologized and allegedly deleted encrypted messaging apps from her phone while in the bathroom that she had used to communicate with Adams, a Turkish businessman and others, the indictment says.

    Four days later, the FBI came with a search warrant for Adams’ own phones – but the mayor was only carrying his two official devices. His personal phone – the one he used to discuss campaign finance and supposedly official favors for the Turkish government – was at home.

    An absent-minded (now indicted) mayor

    On November 5th, Adams turned in the cell phone – but there was a catch.

    “When Adams retrieved his personal cell phone the next day in response to a subpoena, it was ‘locked,’ requiring a password to open the device,” the indictment states. “Adams claimed that after learning of the investigation into his conduct, he changed the password that same day, increasing the complexity of his password from four to six digits.”

    The mayor said he changed the password to prevent his staff from accidentally deleting anything.

    “But Adams further claimed that he had forgotten the password he had just set and therefore was unable to provide the FBI with a password that would unlock the phone,” the indictment says.

    It’s unclear whether investigators were able to crack Adams’ phone without the newly minted six-digit password. The indictment quotes numerous text messages exchanged by members of his circle.

    More: Forgot your password? That’s because common password advice is bad, experts say

    The phone scam was just one of several moves by Adams and others to “hide their unlawful conduct from public and law enforcement scrutiny,” the indictment says.

    Earlier this month, federal agents seized phones belonging to Adams’ later resigned police commissioner, two deputy mayors, the schools chancellor and a close aide.

    Early Thursday morning, federal agents searched Gracie Mansion, the mayor’s official residence, and seized another Adams phone.

    When USA TODAY called Thursday afternoon, there was no answer at that number.

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    Madoc Meredith
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