I WILL SHOW YOU THAT IN THE
TEN-DAY FORECAST COMING UP.
BACK TO YOU.
>>> FOR TWO WEEKS WE HAVE BEEN REPORTING ON THE FBI
INVESTIGATING CAMPAIGN FINANCE
CONTRIBUTION TO THE MAYOR ADAMS
CAMPAIGN AND THEN WHETHER IT
WIDENED TO SEE WHETHER THE MAYOR
TRADED POLITICAL FAVORS WITH THE
TURKISH GOVERNMENT. TONIGHT THE I-TEAM’S MELISSA
RUSSO LEARNED ONE OF THE CHIEFS
FELT HE WAS IMPROPERLY PRESSURED
TO SIGN OFF ON A BUILDING AT THE CENTER OF THE FBI INVESTIGATION.
>> ONE OF THOSE CHIEFS SAYING HE
TOLD THE FBI THAT WHAT HE WAS
BEING ASKED TO DO FOR THE NEW
TURKISH CONSULATE IN MANHATTAN
WAS UNSAFE, BUT THE MAYOR’S TEAM
SAYS MAYOR ADAMS DID NOTHING
IMPROPER WHEN HE ASKED FOR HELP MOVING THAT PROJECT ALONG.
>> THE DIRECT AND THE IMPLICIT
MESSAGE IS, IF YOU DON’T DO MY
BIDDING, YOU’RE GONE.
>> Reporter: ATTORNEY JIM WALDON
DESCRIBING WHEN HE SAYS WAS A
PRESSURE CAMPAIGN TO GET FDNY
CHIEFS TO RUBBER-STAMP THE
TURKISH GOVERNMENT’S NEW CONSULATE BUILDING ON FIRST
AVENUE BACK IN AUGUST OF 2021.
HIS CLIENT IS THE FDNY’S WERE
FORMER CHIEF OF FIRE PREVENTION JOSEPH JARDIN.
>> MY CLIENT AND OTHERS WERE
PRESSURED TO DO SOMETHING
UNSAFE. >> Reporter: HE SAYS THAT
ALLEGED PRESSURE IS SOMETHING
THE FBI STARTED ASKING CHIEF
JARDIN AND OTHER FIRE OFFICIALS
ABOUT BACK IN APRIL.
>> I GOT A CALL FROM THE FBI.
>> Reporter: THAT WAS MONTHS
BEFORE THE NEWS SURFACED OF THE
FBI’S INTEREST IN TURKISH
CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS TO MAYOR
ERIC ADAMS AND HIS ADVOCACY RELATED TO THAT BUILDING IN THE
MONTHS BEFORE HE BECAME MAYOR.
ADAMS ACKNOWLEDGES HE TEXTED THE
FORMER FIRE COMMISSIONER FOR
HELP GETTING THE NEW TURKISH
CONSULATE OPENED.
>> THE COMMISSIONER WAS THE PERSON THAT I ASKED, CAN YOU
LOOK INTO THIS?
>> Reporter: TWO SOURCES
FAMILIAR WITH ADAMS’ TEXT MESSAGES SAY HIS REQUEST SAME A
MONTH AFTER THE CONSULATE’S FIRE
PLAN FAILED INSPECTION AND WAS
MARKED DISAPPROVED IN CITY
DOCUMENTS. EMAILS OBTAINED BY NEWS 4 FROM A
SOURCE FAMILIAR WITH THE
INVESTIGATION SHOW THE TURKISH
GOVERNMENT HAD CONTRACTORS, CITY
OFFICIALS AND REAL ESTATE
INDUSTRY REPRESENTATIVES
SCRAMBLING FOR FIRE APPROVALS.
GUYS, WE WILL HAVE AN
INTERNATIONAL INCIDENT IF WE
DON’T GET FDNY THERE NEXT WEEK,
SAID ONE OF THE CONTRACTORS.
U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY IS IN
THREE WEEKS AND TURKISH PRESIDENT WANTS HIS BUILDING.
CAN YOU HELP? >> THEY PUSHED BACK AS MUCH AS
THEY COULD, BUT AS A NUMBER OF
WITNESSES TOLD THE FBI, IT WAS
NOT REALLY AN OPTION TO DO
NOTHING.
ESSENTIALLY, BOTH OF THEM
UNDERSTOOD QUITE CLEARLY THAT IF
THEY DIDN’T GET THIS DONE, THERE
WAS GOING TO BE ADVERSE
CONSEQUENCES TO THEM PERSONALLY. THEY WOULD LOSE THEIR JOBS.
>> Reporter: YOU’RE SAYING THE
CHIEFS WERE TOLD THEY WOULD LOSE THEIR JOBS IF THEY DIDN’T GREEN
LIGHT THIS CONSULATE?
>> IN WORDS OR SUBSTANCE, THAT’S
WHAT THEY WERE TOLD.
>> Reporter: THE ATTORNEY WOULD
NOT SAY WHO TOLD THEM THIS,
CITING THE FACT THAT IT’S AN
ONGOING INVESTIGATION, BUT THE EMAIL SHOW THERE WAS A LOT OF
ADVOCACY AND NOT ONLY BY ERIC
ADAMS. MAYOR DEB LAWSIO BUILDING
COMMISSIONER AND LAURA KAVANAUGH
ALSO PUSHED ON BEHALF OF THE
TURKISH BUILDING AT THE TIME. THE EMAILS DON’T ORDER ANYONE TO
APPROVE ANYTHING. THE FIRE DEPARTMENT’S CHIEF
SPOKESMAN SAID THE INTERNAL
EMAILS MAKE CLEAR COMMISSIONER
KAVANAUGH HAD NO MEANINGFUL
INVOLVEMENT IN HOW THE FDNY
HANDLED THIS REQUEST AND THERE
IS NOTHING TO SUGGEST THE FDNY
WAS PRESSURED TO DO ANYTHING
IMPROPER.
ULTIMATELY, TURKEY GOT WHAT IT WANTED.
CHIEF JARDIN SIGNED A
CONDITIONAL LETTER OF NO
OBJECTION, PUNTING SO THE
BUILDING’S DEPARTMENT COULD MAKE
THE CALL.
AND CHIEF JARDIN IS CURRENTLY
ONE OF SEVERAL PLAINTIFFS IN AN
ONGOING AGE DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT AGAINST FIRE
COMMISSIONER LAURA KAVANAUGH,
AND JIM WALDEN, THE LAWYER YOU
JUST HEARD FROM, IS ALSO THE
LAWYER ON THAT CASE.
SO THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IS SAYING
TONIGHT THAT THESE NEW CLAIMS
ABOUT THE TURKISH CONSULATE SEEM
LIKE AN ATTEMPT BY SOMEONE WHO
HAS A FINANCIAL INTEREST IN
SMEARING FIRE COMMISSIONER
KAVANAUGH. FIRE OFFICIALS SAY KAVANAUGH HAS
NOT BEEN QUESTIONED BY THE FBI
AND THAT THEY FEEL DOZENS OF
SIMILAR REQUESTS EVERY WEEK FROM
PEOPLE WHO WANT THEIR
INSPECTIONS AND THEIR APPROVALS
EXPEDITED.