Category: Security

Marty Krofft, the TV creator behind the iconic children’s shows “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour,” “H.R. Pufnstuf” and “Land of the Lost,” died from kidney failure on Saturday in Los Angeles, his representatives told the Associated Press. He was 86.

Dubbed the “King of Saturday Mornings,” Marty and his brother Sid were puppeteers-turned-producers whose kids shows, which prominently featured elaborate dolls and puppets, changed the children’s TV landscape. The two were also behind the classic series “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters” and “D.C. Follies,” and primetime variety shows “Donny and Marie” and “Barbara Mandrell and the Mandrell Sisters.”

Sid paid tribute to his brother in an Instagram post on Saturday night.

“I’m heartbroken over the loss of my baby brother,” he wrote. “I really know that all of you meant the world to him. It’s YOU that made this all happen. Thank you for being there with us all these years.”

The brothers (and the fantastical “H.R. Pufnstuf”) returned to TV in 2016 with the Nickelodeon show “Mutt & Stuff”; Marty was 78 at the time and Sid was 86.

“Marty is sharp and tuned in to what audiences want, and is, in a good way, aggressive and sticks to his guns,” Greg Siegel, a development executive at Legendary Digital Media, told the Los Angeles Times in 2016.

Born in Montreal on April 9, 1937, Marty is the youngest of four brothers, born to Russian parents.

Sid created a successful puppet show that toured the world during the 1940s, which led him to work in vaudeville. Marty, who used his brother’s old puppets to follow suit in New York, eventually joined Sid in Hollywood in the 1950s. In 1961, they premiered “Les Poupees de Paris,” an adult-themed puppet show, at a dinner club in Los Angeles. Mae West, Richard Nixon and Liberace were in the audience on opening night. Their expertise brought them to TV, where they became two of the most prolific producers for decades.

After designing the sets and costumes for the live-action portion of NBC’s “The Banana Splits Adventure Hour,” the network tapped them to create a Saturday morning kids show. The result was “H.R. Pufnstuf,” about a boy trapped in an alternate universe who befriends a dragon. The show only aired 17 episodes from 1969-70, but lived on in reruns.

Marty was known as the business brain of Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, making sure that the shows were inventive and on budget.

“We couldn’t really afford to do a lot of what we wanted in the beginning. We had to paint the backgrounds and the floors on the shows, for crying out loud,” Marty told The Times.

Their other whimsical series include “The Bugaloos” (1970-72), “Lidsville” (1971-73), “Sigmund and the Sea Monsters” (1973-75), “Electra Woman and Dyna Girl” (1976) and “Wonderbug” (1976-1978).

When the movie adaptation of “Land of the Lost” was produced, Marty called it “The Krofft era,” touting their stockpile of intellectual property as “the next Marvel Comics” to The Times in 2008. In the same article, the Kroffts admitted that much of their family history as reported was the fictional product of a publicist in the 1940s.

The Krofft brothers’ reputation for creating shows with heart led contemporary names like Oscar-winning composer Alan Menken and “Downton Abbey” creator Julian Fellowes to collaborate with them on remakes of “Lidsville” and “H.R. Pufnstuf,” respectively. Those projects were never produced, but highlighted the value of their canon.

The brothers were known to fight often, as siblings do, but in recent years, the squabbling turned into a legal entanglement as Sid sued Marty over business dealings and profits.

The two were honored with a lifetime achievement award at the Daytime Emmys in 2018 and received stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2020.

In addition to Sid, Marty is survived by brother Harry; three daughters, Deanna Krofft-Pope, Kristina Krofft and Kendra Krofft; five grandchildren; and one great-grandchild.

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© 2023 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing another lawsuit accusing him of sexual and physical abuse.

The hip-hop mogul who founded Bad Boy Records is being accused, alongside R&B singer Aaron Hall, of sexually assaulting an unnamed woman and her friend, then beating one of them several days later, according to the Associated Press.

According to the lawsuit, filed on Thursday and obtained by AP, the alleged incident occurred in the early 1990s. The accuser said she was coerced into having sex with Combs and was later pinned down by Hall and forced to have sex with him too. The accuser’s friend was also allegedly forced to have sex with the two musicians. According to the suit, Combs showed up to the women’s home days later to discourage them from coming forward. He allegedly then choked the woman identified as Jane Doe until she passed out.

A spokesperson for Combs denied the allegations.

“These are fabricated claims falsely alleging misconduct from over 30 years ago and filed at the last minute,” Combs’ spokesperson said in a statement to People. “This is nothing but a money grab. Because of Mr. Combs’ fame and success, he is an easy target for anonymous accusers who lie without conscience or consequence for financial benefit.”

It’s the third sexual assault lawsuit against Combs filed within a week, renewing discussions about how sexual assault and harassment have long plagued the music industry.

Another lawsuit was filed Thursday against Combs in Manhattan Supreme Court by a woman alleging that the rapper drugged and raped her in 1991 when she was a college student and “reluctantly agreed” to have dinner with him at a restaurant in Harlem.

The lawsuit alleges that Combs “pushed” for her to keep him company afterward and accuses him of drugging her until she was unable to stand or walk without assistance. The lawsuit also claims he filmed the attack and distributed the footage throughout New York state without her consent.

The lawsuits against Combs came just before the Friday deadline for the Adult Survivors Act, a New York law that temporarily lifted the statute of limitations for sexual assault victims. Multiple music industry and Hollywood figures, including rock star Axl Rose, actors Jamie Foxx and Cuba Gooding Jr., ex-Grammys CEO Neil Portnow, former Arista and Epic Records chief L.A. Reid and Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler have been accused of wrongdoing in court filings.

In a lawsuit last week that started the wave of legal issues for Combs, singer Cassie accused him of rape, sexual assault, sex trafficking, physical abuse, and plying her with drugs and alcohol over the course of their longtime romantic relationship. The two reached a settlement the following day.

At the time of Ventura’s filing, Diddy’s lawyer, Ben Brafman, said in a statement to the L.A. Times that Combs “vehemently denies these offensive and outrageous allegations” and accused Ventura of being “persistent” in demanding more than $30 million from the musician for the last six months.

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© 2023 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

Illinois residents who owned guns covered by the state’s sweeping firearms ban before it took effect last January have a little more than one month to register those weapons with the Illinois State Police before facing the possibility of criminal penalties.

Registration began Oct. 1, and through Nov. 21, 3,439 owners had registered nearly 6,600 guns they owned before those firearms became illegal to possess or sell in Illinois, according to state records.

While the degree of compliance is impossible to determine, the number of people who had registered through Nov. 21 represented just 0.001% of the 2.4 million people holding Illinois firearm owner’s identification cards, the state-mandated permits that authorize residents to own guns. FOID card owners might not own guns not covered by the ban, or have any guns at all.

The registration requirement for prohibited weapons that were owned before the ban’s Jan. 10, 2023, effective date was one of the most controversial aspects of the law, which gun rights advocates so far have failed to overturn through state and federal lawsuits.

On Oct. 31, when about 2,000 people had registered their grandfathered-in assault weapons about a month into the policy being in effect, Illinois State Police Director Brendan Kelly said the registration process had been “slow but steady.”

“We’ll just see how the process continues to work and we’ll share the data as we continue on a daily basis to do so,” Kelly said during an unrelated event in Springfield.

Two days later in Lake Forest, Gov. J.B. Pritzker downplayed any suggestion that not enough people owning the prohibited guns were registering them, saying it was too early to make such an assessment and suggesting registration would pick up closer to Jan. 1.

“I can tell you, at least for me, that I think all of us take our time sometimes when we know the deadline is two-and-a-half months (away), that we’ll find the time eventually to go online, which is what they need to do and to register as they’re required to do,” Pritzker said.

The sweeping ban on certain high-powered guns was spurred by the mass shooting on the Fourth of July in 2022 in Highland Park, which left seven people dead and dozens more injured. It prohibits the delivery, sale, import and purchase of more than 100 so-called assault weapons, in the form of semi-automatic rifles, shotguns and handguns. Also banned are the delivery, sale and purchase of high-capacity magazines of more than 10 rounds for long guns and 15 rounds for handguns.

People who owned those guns before Jan. 10 but don’t register them with the Illinois State Police by Jan. 1, can be charged with a misdemeanor for a first offense and felonies for subsequent violations.

But earlier this year, some law enforcement officials declared they had no intention of going after those who violate the law. After Pritzker signed the gun ban into law, an estimated 90 of Illinois’ 102 county sheriffs issued letters stating they “believe that (the new gun law) is a clear violation of the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution” and that they wouldn’t enforce it.

At public hearings in Springfield and Chicago earlier this month, state police heard concerns about the ban and its registration requirement from several gun rights advocates. One Republican lawmaker predicted that “hundreds of thousands” people would “absolutely not comply” with registering their weapons.

“We know this public hearing is taking place because (of) the governor and his radical-left agenda,” state Rep. Brad Halbrook, a Shelbyville Republican who is a member of the House Freedom Caucus, a group composed of his chamber’s most conservative legislators, testified before the state police. “He and his Democrat legislators passed this bill and then laid it at your feet to have to deal with it.”

Pritzker made his comments on the registration process at an event with Deerfield state Rep. Bob Morgan and Lake Forest state Sen. Julie Morrison, Democrats who supported the assault weapons ban in the General Assembly.

Morgan, who had just started to march in the Highland Park parade with his family when the mass shooting began, said people are still adjusting to the first-ever requirement that guns be registered.

Morgan said he thinks “there are a lot of individuals who have these weapons that are considering whether to sell them to someone out of state, which is a provision in the law that they’re allowed to do. So, I do think this is a function of cramming for the test that people will wait to the last minute.”

Pritzker and Morgan spoke on Nov. 2, when 2,430 FOID card holders had registered 4,592 banned weapons. By Nov. 21, about 1,000 more FOID card holders had registered roughly an additional 2,000 firearms, state records showed.

It’s unclear how many Illinoisans own semi-automatic guns that are now banned. According to the National Shooting Sports Foundation, a firearms industry trade group mounting one of the legal challenges to Illinois’ gun ban, there have been more than 24 million modern sporting rifles in circulation in the U.S. since the early 1990s, including many AR-15- and AK-47-type guns that are subject to the ban in Illinois.

On Nov. 3, the day after Pritzker’s appearance in Lake Forest with Morgan and Morrison, a three-judge panel from the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld Illinois’ gun ban in a 2-1 ruling, rejecting an argument that it violates the Second Amendment but leaving the door open for opponents to make a more compelling case as the legal battle continues.

Some of the gun rights advocates who were subject to lawsuits reviewed by the appellate court panel have since filed appeals to the full 7th Circuit, and a federal judge in southern Illinois is scheduled to hear arguments next month over the legality of the gun ban’s registration requirement.

Registration must be completed online through a FOID card account from the state police’s Firearms Services Bureau website, www.ispfsb.com. Gun owners will need an email address, driver’s license or state ID, and FOID card to create an account. A video on how to register by submitting what is called an endorsement affidavit through a FOID card account was also made available on the state police website.

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© 2023 Chicago Tribune

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

A Florida man’s social media posts threatening a mass shooting on the New York City subway landed him in jail, authorities said Friday.

Pinellas Park resident Robert Trout III, 19, posted a video of himself brandishing guns, and wrote: “If you’re from New York City do not take the train on Thursday evening,” said a report on WFLA, a Tampa TV station.

According to a police report, the video depicted Trout “handling firearms in a reckless manner,” WFLA said.

The firearms allegedly included two Glock .40 caliber pistols. Trout also claimed on the video to have 60 rounds of ammunition, the TV report said.

An anonymous tipster flagged the video to Pinellas Park cops. Trout’s mother was among those who identified him as being the person in the video, the TV report said.

Trout remained jailed Friday on an “FBI courtesy hold” after police charged him with threatening a mass shooting and unlawful use of a communications device, according to Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office records.

MTA officials referred questions about the arrest to the New York Police Department and Florida law enforcement authorities, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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© 2023 New York Daily News

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

In a daring maritime rescue, a U.S. Navy destroyer successfully intercepted and detained five individuals attempting to execute a terrorist hijack of an Israeli-owned chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday.

The Liberian-flagged tanker Central Park, managed by U.K.-based Zodiac Maritime, which is part of Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer’s Zodiac Group, was the target of the attempted hijacking, according to The Daily Wire.

Fox News reported that U.S. Navy personnel with the USS Mason captured the five individuals as they were fleeing toward Yemen. The incident received additional attention as it was the second attempt in recent days to seize the tanker, following an earlier attempt by Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists.

U.S. Central Command released a statement explaining that the USS Mason, allied ships from the counter-piracy task force coalition, and aircraft responded to “a distress call from the M/V CENTRAL PARK,” a commercial vessel that reported it was “under attack” by an unidentified “entity.”

“Upon arrival, coalition elements demanded release of the vessel. Subsequently, five armed individuals debarked the ship and attempted to flee via their small boat,” Central Command stated. “The MASON pursued the attackers resulting in their eventual surrender. The crew of the M/V CENTRAL PARK is currently safe.”

On Nov. 26, the USS MASON (DDG 87), with allied ships from our coalition counter-piracy task force (TF 151), and associated aircraft responded to a distress call from the M/V CENTRAL PARK, a commercial vessel, that they were under attack by an unknown entity. Upon arrival,… pic.twitter.com/ASmM3b0xrf

— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) November 27, 2023

While Central Command did not immediately reveal the identity of the attackers, it did acknowledge that two ballistic missiles were launched from parts of Yemen controlled by the Houthi.

“At approximately 0141 on Nov. 27 Sanaa time, two ballistic missiles were fired from Houthi controlled areas in Yemen toward the general location of the USS MASON (DDG 87) and M/V CENTRAL PARK,” Central Command stated. “The missiles landed in the Gulf of Aden approximately ten nautical miles from the ships. The USS MASON (DDG87), which is part of the Dwight D. Eisenhower Carrier Strike Group, was concluding its response to the M/V CENTRAL PARK distress call at the time of the missile launches.”

READ MORE: U.S. Navy ship intercepts missiles in Middle East: Report

Central Command noted that there were no injuries, and no damage was reported from either ship. The timely response by the U.S. Navy to the distress call not only thwarted the hijackers’ plans but also emphasized the strategic collaboration among international naval forces in ensuring maritime security.

“Maritime domain security is essential to regional stability,” Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, CENTCOM commander, said. “We will continue to work with allies and partners to ensure the safety and security of international shipping lanes.”

This news article was partially created with the assistance of artificial intelligence and edited and fact-checked by a human editor.

A resurfaced video on social media shows a New York City resident expressing his outrage toward the government’s handling of the migrant crisis.

In September, multiple protesters interrupted a Midtown press conference on New York City’s migrant crisis featuring Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jerry Nadler, as well as other Democrat lawmakers, according to The New York Post. The protesters shouted phrases such as “close the border” and “send them back.”

The media interviewed some of the protesters as cameras recorded what the New York Post described as chaotic scenes near the main migrant intake site for New York City.

“Close the border, close the border. Respect the constitution AOC. I am your constituent,” one protestor shouted. 

Former Queens City Council candidate, 44-year-old Jonathan Rinaldi was one of the most vocal protesters on the streets. According to the New York Post, a security guard was forced to shove Rinaldi behind a barricade as he continued to scream in outrage toward government leaders.

READ MORE: Video: NYC mayor cuts police, school funding over migrant crisis

Resurfaced video footage, posted on X, formerly Twitter, by “Wall Street Apes,” shows Rinaldi’s interaction with a Fox News reporter.

“This is up to us. This is up to each and every one of us to stand up. Nobody’s coming here for us. We’re here for ourselves. If we don’t get up and fight for our city, nobody’s coming for us,” Rinaldi told the Fox News reporter. “They’re coming to destroy it. The reason why they’re here is to steal our votes. We’re not gonna be able to live. They’re stealing our votes, our kids’ future, my birthright, our United States’ great city that I refuse to leave.”

One Of The Most Important Clips Period. New York Resident Loses It & Exposes The Truth Behind Illegal Immigrants Being Imported Into America. Fox News Chooses To Cut Away

“This is up to us. This is up to each and every one of us to stand up. Nobody’s coming here for us. Right.… pic.twitter.com/7Hs7Oh0Vqz

— Wall Street Apes (@WallStreetApes) November 27, 2023

The enraged New York City resident claimed that the lawmakers in charge of handling the migrant crisis were not actually elected by the American people due to the use of absentee ballots. Rinaldi argued that lawmakers are “being selected” rather than elected.

Asked for a response to members of Congress meeting in New York City to address the migrant crisis, Rinaldi added, “They will never be allowed to walk down the streets again. They have destroyed our city, and New York, especially, Queens has woken up.”

President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly tracking anyone who traveled to the D.C. region on January 6, 2021, even if the individuals were not present at the storming of Capitol Hill.

According to the director of the Air Marshal National Council, Sonya LaBosco, the Travel and Security Administration (TSA) has a special mission for air marshals to track individuals who traveled to the D.C. region on the day of the Jan. 6 protest.

During a recent interview on Fox News, LaBosco warned that TSA air marshals are “not flying right now.” She claimed that the only missions air marshals are currently conducting are missions on the border with illegal immigrants or “following the January 2021 people.”

“We’re not doing our regular missions where we’re out there looking for the bad guys, so right now on most flights, you’re not going to have air marshals,” she said.

REPORT: The Biden administration is tracking *everyone* who traveled to the D.C. region on January 6, 2021 even if they had nothing to do with the Capitol riot.

According to director of the Air Marshal National Council Sonya LaBosco, TSA has a special list for people who… pic.twitter.com/x2vLM22ldE

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) November 26, 2023

LaBosco noted that the primary mission of air marshals is currently “Quiet Skies,” which involves the tracking of anyone who traveled to the Washington, D.C., region at the time of the storming of Capitol Hill.

“We’re following people that flew into the national Capital region in January 2021,” LaBosco added. “You did not have to go to the Capitol or the rally, and you’ve been put on a specific list that TSA now has assigned air marshals to follow these people who have not had any type of criminal investigation, they haven’t committed a crime, but yet three years later, we’re following the same individuals day in and day out.”

READ MORE: Jan 6 protester ‘QAnon shaman’ running for Congress

Detailing the mission of the “Quiet Skies” TSA operation, LaBosco claimed that the government is tracking people who could have potentially been in the D.C. region for job interviews or to visit family members. She noted that at least one person had been tracked by the TSA despite being in the region for a funeral on the day of the Jan. 6 protest.

“They were put on this domestic terrorist list just because of their geographic location to Washington, D.C,” LaBosco stated. “So these people did not even commit a crime, they weren’t even at the Capitol.”

Asked whether the individuals being tracked by the TSA are aware that they are being followed by air marshals, LaBosco explained that many of the individuals are aware because they receive special markings on their boarding passes, are required to go through “enhanced security,” and are followed by air marshal teams on “any leg of flight” during their various travels.

“They haven’t been vetted and they have not committed a crime, and three years later, we’re still doing the same duty, and we followed the same people over and over for three years who are no threat to this country,” she said.

A Pentagon official responsible for overseeing federal school systems for military families was recently arrested and charged in connection with a human trafficking operation in Georgia.

Last week, the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office announced that officers had arrested 26 individuals in association with an alleged human trafficking ring.

“The Coweta County Sheriff’s Office conducted a Human Trafficking Operation on November 15 and 16, 2023, and requested the HCSO Special Ops Div to assist. During the two days, six victims of Human Trafficking were rescued and moved to safety,” the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office stated on X, formerly Twitter. “A total of 26 arrests were made, 12 for prostitution, 10 for pandering, and four for pimping. Three of the individuals are currently under investigation for human trafficking and drug charges.”

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A total of 26 arrests were made, 12 for prostitution, 10 for pandering, and four for pimping. Three of the individuals are currently under investigation for human trafficking and drug charges.
#Teamwork#SpecialOperationDivision#HCSO

— Haralson Co Sheriff GA (@HaralsonSheriff) November 20, 2023

WSB-TV Atlanta reported that 64-year-old Stephen Hovanic, from Sharpsburg, Georgia, was arrested and charged with pandering during the two-day operation.

According to Stars and Stripes, Hovanic has been employed by the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) for almost 30 years and has served as chief of staff for the department’s Americas region for the past 13 years. The DoDEA is responsible for federal schools on U.S. military bases across the globe.

The Pentagon official was charged with pandering after he allegedly solicited sex with an undercover agent in a motel room, according to FOX 5 Atlanta.

“This kind of operation is really important to us, because, number one, sex buyers are a huge problem in the industry. Without sex buyers, there wouldn’t be a market for the females to continue to be victimized,” an agent told FOX 5. “Second, and probably most importantly for all of us, is the victimization of these females. There’s not a good scenario for them in this lifestyle, so the goal is to get them out of this lifestyle.”

The X account, “End Wokeness,” tweeted a picture of Hovanic, stating, “Biden Pentagon official Stephen Francis Hovanic. One of his jobs was to oversee elementary schools for the Pentagon. He was just busted in a massive human trafficking sting in Georgia.

Biden Pentagon official Stephen Francis Hovanic. One of his jobs was to oversee elementary schools for the Pentagon.

He was just busted in a massive human trafficking sting in Georgia. pic.twitter.com/KHsPHvEWXS

— End Wokeness (@EndWokeness) November 22, 2023

In the aftermath of the human trafficking bust operation, Fox News reported that the DoDEA had listed Hovanic’s chief of staff position as “vacant” on its official website.

According to WSB-TV Atlanta, the DoDEA released a statement explaining that the department is “aware of an alleged incident involving a DoDEA employee in the Americas Region.”

READ MORE: 14 missing kids, 17 adults rescued in Missouri human trafficking operation

“As there are ongoing legal processes, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time,” the department added. “Any questions regarding the incident should be directed to the local law enforcement agency involved.”

On its official website, the DoDEA describes itself as “one of only two Federally-operated school systems” that is “responsible for planning, directing, coordinating, and managing prekindergarten through 12th grade educational programs on behalf of the Department of Defense (DoD).”

According to Fox News, the DoDEA currently manages 160 schools located in 11 different countries, seven states, Puerto Rico, and Guam. The DoDEA serves almost 70,000 military and DoD children and has roughly 15,000 employees.

The central cast of “Friends” is mourning one of its own as stars Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer broke their silence on co-star Matthew Perry’s death.

“We are all so utterly devastated by the loss of Matthew. We were more than just cast mates. We are a family,” they said in a shared statement to the Los Angeles Times on Monday. “There is so much to say, but right now we’re going to take a moment to grieve and process this unfathomable loss.”

The statement continued: “In time we will say more, as and when we are able. For now, our thoughts and our love are with Matty’s family, his friends, and everyone who loved him around the world.”

From 1994 to 2004, Perry and his five co-stars shared the screen and entertained thousands of live-audience members in the hit NBC sitcom “Friends.” As the wisecracking Chandler Bing, Perry brought his signature sarcasm to a playful group that quickly became one of TV’s most iconic ensemble casts.

The actor was found dead at his Los Angeles home Saturday. Authorities discovered Perry unresponsive in a hot tub. Officials did not reveal a cause of death, but said “foul play is not suspected.” His cause of death was deferred, pending further investigation.

The “Friends” actors are the latest to honor Perry after his death. Over the weekend stars Selma Blair, Paget Brewster, Morgan Fairchild and Mira Sorvino also remembered the “Friends, Lovers, and the Big Terrible Thing” author.

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© 2023 Los Angeles Times

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

 The “improper” behavior a top city official recently informed the FBI of centers on claims City Hall staffer Rana Abbasova tipped colleagues to “delete” their text exchanges hours after the feds raided her New Jersey home, a source close to the investigation into Mayor Eric Adams’ campaign told the Daily News on Monday.

The source, who spoke only under condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the federal probe, said Abbasova’s request that colleagues delete their communications is what Mayor Adams’ personal attorney Boyd Johnson referred to when he said two weeks ago that “ an individual had recently acted improperly” and that the “behavior was immediately and proactively reported to investigators.”

The source described Abbasova’s alleged conversations as part of the reason behind the FBI seizing Mayor Adams’ cell phones on a lower Manhattan street days after the raid.

According to an Adams’ administration official, Abbasova has since been placed on leave.

Exactly who Abbasova reached out to after the raid is unclear. The source who spoke to The News said the colleagues she allegedly contacted handle scheduling and accompany the mayor to events — or “advance” work as its commonly known — but the source didn’t identify them by name.

The federal probe into Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign became public on Nov. 2 after the feds raided the Brooklyn home of Brianna Suggs, a top fund-raiser for Adams’ successful City Hall run. Investigators seized electronic devices and other records from her home, including a folder named “Eric Adams.”

The investigation is focused on whether Adams campaign accepted donations from the Turkish government that were filtered through so-called straw donors, which is illegal.

Adams, Suggs and Abbasova have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Adams would not directly respond to questions about Abbasova at an unrelated announcement in the East Village on Monday, but reiterated what he described as his commitment to “participate [and] cooperate” with investigators.

“Let the reviewers do their job, and I’m going to do mine,” he said.

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is involved in leading the investigation, did not immediately return a request for comment. Abbasova did not return calls.

On the same day as the Suggs’ raid, the feds also raided Abbasova’s home and seized her devices, a development first reported by The News.

Abbasova’s time working for Adams goes back to his days as Brooklyn borough president. After ascending to City Hall, she joined the administration to handle advance work for the mayor. According to an online bio, Abbasova works as an international affairs protocol director responsible for “vetting foreign delegations, organizing meetings with foreign delegations for the mayor and [International Affairs Commissioner Ed Mermelstein], and creating events for foreign dignitaries.”

Her bio goes on to state that during her time in Borough Hall she was responsible “for international relations and maintaining relationships between the Borough President and stakeholders, including the Middle East and Central Asian countries, Muslim and Russian-speaking communities.”

It’s unclear what role, if any, Abbasova played on Adams’ 2021 campaign.

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© 2023 New York Daily News

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