The campaign fund-raiser for Mayor Adams whose Brooklyn residence was searched by FBI agents probing Adams’ 2021 campaign is a 25-year-old with especially close ties to the mayor’s chief adviser.
Brianna Suggs is the goddaughter of Ingrid Lewis-Martin, a conservative-leaning Democrat and chaplain who is the mayor’s top political adviser and among the most powerful voices in City Hall. Adams has known Lewis-Martin since the mid-1980s.
Suggs served as a chief fund-raiser for Adams’ 2021 campaign and had been tapped to lead his fund-raising operations in his 2025 reelection run. She lives in a three-story building in Crown Heights, the site of the Thursday raid.
She has not been accused of wrongdoing.
The New York Times, citing portions of the search warrant, reported Thursday that federal prosecutors were examining whether Adams’ campaign conspired with the Turkish government to pocket illicit donations. The Times reported that investigators were examining whether Turkish officials and a Brooklyn construction group received benefits from the campaign.
Suggs did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Friday. Lewis-Martin declined to comment.
Suggs worked for several years under Adams during his time as Brooklyn borough president, before holding an intimate role in fund-raising during his successful mayoral campaign. At Borough Hall, she focused heavily on gender equity.
What was Suggs’ role on the 2021 campaign?
In the 2021 campaign, Suggs held the title of “director of logistics,” her LinkedIn page said, and she has worked since 2021 as a fund-raiser for the Brooklyn Democratic Party. On her LinkedIn page, she claims credit for raising $18 million for Adams in the 2021 election cycle.
Evan Thies, Adams’ campaign spokesman, said in a text message that Suggs “was a fundraiser to the campaign.”
“She did not have an official title,” Thies added.
But the scope of Suggs’ fund-raising role in Adams’ 2021 race was significant, despite her age and limited experience. Adams, who sneaked past Kathryn Garcia in the 2021 Democratic primary, said Friday on WPIX-TV that Suggs ran his campaign’s “entire fund-raising apparatus” in 2021.
Adams told WPIX that he had no plans to remove Suggs from his political operation, describing her as a “bright, energetic, smart young lady.” He said she was qualified for her role in the 2021 campaign.
“I have full confidence in her,” Adams told the station. “She has done an amazing job. And she will stay with the campaign team.”
What did she do before the mayoral campaign?
She studied at Benjamin Banneker High School and then at Brooklyn College from 2017 to 2020, majoring in biology, according to her LinkedIn. During college, she interned and worked under Adams at Borough Hall, the LinkedIn page said.
Her website described her as having an “interdisciplinary approach to project management” and a focus on “efficiency, critical thinking, and communication.” It was unclear if she had raised money for any campaigns before Adams’ mayoral run.
What else has Suggs worked on?
Suggs’ website also indicated she worked on a doomed Assembly campaign of Hercules Reid, a Brooklyn organizer who worked on Adams’ campaign. He declined to comment.
Also listed on her website were a state Senate campaign of Miguelina Camilo, and a reelection campaign for Assemblyman Al Taylor. Neither immediately replied to requests for comment.
What are Brooklyn Democrats saying?
Assemblywoman Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn, chairwoman of the Brooklyn Democratic Party, said in a brief interview on Thursday that she viewed Suggs as a “very respectful young professional who understands the rules and regulations.”
“We hold Brianna Suggs in very high regard,” Bichotte Hermelyn said. “She’s been very successful at raising funds for the mayor. And she’s been a volunteer for us in a few of our fund-raising activities, as part of a team.”
Joseph Bova, a district leader from Bensonhurst who said he had worked with Suggs in a limited capacity, described her as “very nice” and “very professional.”
Of the search of her home, he said: “It’s a little surprising, but then again I don’t know.”
“You don’t know what you don’t know,” Bova said. “I know the mayor — I know he wouldn’t be involved in anything nefarious. The little that I know of Brianna, I would say the same.”
With Chris Sommerfeldt
