May 14, 2025
The 1,700 page document revealed how difficult it was for investigators to get their hands on Adams’ phone.
During his weekly press briefing, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said dyslexia was why he couldn’t unlock his phone for federal investigators who requested it during his donation corruption probe, The New York Daily News reported.
Documents from the now-dismissed corruption case reveal Adams used the same excuse with investigators, but they believed it to be a lie, showing “evidence of consciousness of guilt.” “Hey, folks, I’m dyslexic. I couldn’t get numbers. That’s a byproduct,” the mayor said.
While claiming he “always” gives his “numbers” to staffers, documents showed Adams had some excuses for the whereabouts of his phone. In November 2023, Adams told investigators that he had left his phone in City Hall, but GPS data proved otherwise, and Adams didn’t believe that. GPS data showed the phone was moving with the mayor during his journey from City Hall to an area close to Washington Square Park and north on 6th Avenue. “If someone stated that I had a phone on me based on the GPS data, they’re liars,” the mayor said.
“They’re liars. And the GPS data clearly pings to show you where phones are. They had the evidence.”
He once blamed an aide, saying they took his phone, but when the phone turned up the next day, Adams told the feds he had forgotten the passcode — only to be revealed he changed it two days earlier, just before the initial Greenwich Village raid. “Location information for Adams’ Personal Cell Phone is inconsistent with the representations Adams made,” an FBI agent wrote, according to AM NY.
With more than 1,700 pages of documents released shortly before Mother’s Day 2025, viewers could see how difficult it was for investigators to get their hands on Adams’ phone and an inside peek of what was ahead for the mayor if the case went to trial. Feds were scheduled to carry out raids just days before Trump’s Department of Justice stopped the probe.
Adams continues to push that federal investigators were trying to “humiliate me, to embarrass me, to display me [sic]” during their probe, pointing out that the FBI had plans to seize his phones at the finish line of the 2023 New York City Marathon, but decided against it. Adams said he doesn’t understand why people aren’t taking that into consideration. “I don’t see why no one is factoring in, they wanted to take my phones at the goddamn marathon, folks,” he said.
The mayor, who is up for reelection, also highlighted that Manhattan Federal Judge Dale Ho’s, the judge overseeing the case, decision to drop the case is proof that he did nothing wrong. However, after saying his ruling had nothing to do with the charges’ substance, Ho seemingly agreed with accusations that Adams’ attorney made a “bargain” with the DOJ to drop his case, allegedly agreeing to cooperate with the president’s immigration plan in exchange for dropping his charges.
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