The FBI didn’t just raid anyone’s house Thursday. Brianna Suggs was the campaign fundraiser for Eric Adams’s 2021 mayoral campaign — which is kind of crazy, since she was only 23 years old. Suggs hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing yet — nobody has. And there’s a lot we don’t know about the U.S. attorney’s investigation (though The New York Times seems to know more than anyone else). Suggs was basically the campaign finance director, and she may just be the one who has the files that the feds want to see. But Adams’ decision to hire Suggs is already raising questions. Despite her age and inexperience, she was appointed to lead fundraising for Adams’ campaign. Donors to Adams dealt with her directly, one prominent contributor told Playbook. “She was very, very young. … What turned some heads is that she was running the whole operation of that campaign, the finance part of it, and she was so young and inexperienced.” Suggs may have benefitted from her closeness to the mayor’s longest serving and most senior aide, Ingrid Lewis-Martin. Suggs worked under Lewis-Martin in Adams’ office from 2017 to 2021, when he served as Brooklyn Borough president. She was referred to as Lewis-Martin’s “goddaughter,” said one person familiar with the mayor’s inner circle. Lewis-Martin did not respond to a request for comment. “She’s like a kid,” the person said, and “she’s not meticulous,” the way Adams himself is. “These kinds of things aren’t going to take him down, they’re just going to take people around him down.” Suggs didn’t respond to a request for comment, and her spokesperson, Jordan Barowitz, declined to comment. Suggs is on the mayor’s reelection campaign. She also worked for the Striving for a Better New York PAC, which was closely aligned with Adams. Suggs was on Miguelina Camilo’s state Senate campaign in 2022 (Camilo is now counsel to Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie) and Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Dakota Ramseur’s campaign. Suggs, too, worked with the Brooklyn Democratic Party — though the party never reported paying her. County Chair Rodneyse Bichotte Hermelyn downplayed her role, telling Playbook she was just a volunteer. But she defended her fellow Brooklynite. “Brianna is a person that we consider the most highest integrity,” Bichotte said. “She knows the rules and regulations. She is someone who is smart and mild-mannered.” Adams himself had less to say, as yet another investigation cast a shadow over him. He didn’t take the chance to defend Suggs specifically Thursday night, just saying he holds his campaign to “the highest ethical standards.” Asked if he’d spoken with Suggs, he said “no, not at all.” IT’S FRIDAY. It’s the weekend. Enjoy and thanks for reading! Got news? Send it our way: Jeff Coltin, Emily Ngo and Nick Reisman. WHERE’S KATHY? Marking the beginning of work on the Hudson River Tunnel project with U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and speaking at the Upper West Side’s B’nai Jeshurun Synagogue. WHERE’S ERIC? Meeting with children from the Kehilath Jeshurun Congregation, speaking at a flag-raising ceremony for Malaysia, attending the Brooklyn Chinese-American Association’s 35th Anniversary Celebration and delivering remarks at the Black Stars Award ceremony. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Such anti-Semitic activities would not be tolerated at any of our firms” — a letter from more than two dozen top law firms to universities blasting the schools’ responses to antisemitic incidents on campuses.
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