The feds subpoenaed a shadowy political fund connected to one of Eric Adams’ allies and to the mayor’s embattled top fundraiser, The Post has learned.
The Rev. Alfred L. Cockfield’s political action committee, Striving for a Better New York, was slapped with the subpoena in early November, sources close to the matter told The Post.
The feds subpoenaed a controversial PAC run by the Rev. Al Cockfield. Linkedin /Rev. Al CockfieldInvestigators with the Eastern District of New York sought financial records from the PAC, which has previously drawn scrutiny from the state Board of Elections, according to the sources.
The thrust of the investigation was not immediately clear.
The PAC has ties to Brianna Suggs — the mayor’s chief fundraiser whose Brooklyn home was raided by the feds in November 2023.
Suggs served as the PAC’s treasurer and was paid $100,000 into early 2023, records show.
Cockfield established the committee during Adams’ 2021 mayoral run, with the then-candidate pointing his supporters to the PAC once his campaign war chest hit the legal limit.
The subpoena requested records from a PAC linked to two Adams allies. Michael NagleThe vast majority of the funds were raised from various real estate, construction and other donors in the final months of 2021 in the lead-up to Adams being sworn in on Jan. 1, 2022.
The PAC raised eyebrows for giving out little of the $1.3 million it raised to political activities, while generously compensating Cockfield with more than $144,000 salary in 2022, according to state campaign records.
Cockfield, the founder and chairman, found himself on the radar of the BOE’s Division of Election Law Enforcement following a November 2022 New York Times report revealing that the PAC had donated $60,000 to a charter school he founded that year.
Another BOE investigation found the PAC had received nearly $100,000 from “various LLC/PLLCs that did not have the statutorily required attribution,” causing it to return the funds.
Brianna Suggs, an Adams fundraiser whose home was previously raided by the feds, worked with the PAC.
It again drew scrutiny earlier this year when it doled out donations to races far from the Big Apple, including local races in Texas and Kansas City — despite its mission statement to “give a voice to the issues that impact the lives of everyday New Yorkers.”
The perplexing, but not illegal, contributions were first reported by Politico in July.
Suggs’ home was raided as part of a federal probe into Adams’ 2021 campaign funding, according to sources. Despite her connection to Cockfield’s PAC, the subpoena served earlier this month appears to be part of a separate investigation.
The emergence of another federal probe encircling an Adams ally comes as the mayor is fending off a historic corruption indictment out of the Southern District of New York.
Adams, who has vehemently denied all wrongdoing, is accused of accepting bribes in the form of luxury travel in exchange for doing favors for foreign governments.
Suggs, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, is now employed by Adams’ re-election campaign but no longer has a role with the PAC.
Cockfield didn’t return a request for comment Tuesday, nor did Suggs’ attorney.
A spokesperson for the EDNY declined to comment.
