Azerbaijan Government Paid For Two of Adams' Aides To Visit The Country Months Before The FBI Raid
NYC Mayor Eric Adams Is Struggling To Keep Up With The Election 2024 Campaigns
Federal agents searched the home of a former New York City mayoral aide last fall. According to public records and information from City Hall, that person went to Azerbaijan with another Eric Adams worker the previous year.
Just a few months before the raid, the Azerbaijani government paid for the two city aides to visit the country on what was supposed to be an economic development trip.
Rana Abbasova, the head of protocol in the Mayor's Office of International Affairs from April 29 to May 2, 2023, went with Mermelstein to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. A spokesperson for City Hall confirmed this.
Abbasova was put on leave by Adams' administration in November after FBI agents searched her home and told the public about an investigation into possible ties between the Adams campaign for mayor in 2021 and the Turkish government. Her family is from Azerbaijan, which has a close relationship with Turkey. They also have cultural ties with each other.
Abbasova helped Adams deal with Turkey when Adams was borough president of Brooklyn. This was a free job. It was reported in the New York Times that she is helping federal detectives with the case. Adams has denied any wrongdoing.
City Hall said the trip was free because it included $1,650 for gas for Mermelstein and Abbasova and $40 a day for transportation on the ground. The government gave Mermelstein $540 to stay at a hotel.
City Hall said Abbasova stayed with family.
The visit, which had not been reported before, was on Mermelstein's 2023 disclosure form, received on Tuesday through a records request.
A local news agency, POLITICO, noted that Adams has had a relationship with Azerbaijan for a long time and that he has visited the country at least twice, in 2012 and 2016. A culture group called the Brooklyn Baku Friendship Association held a fundraiser for his 2021 campaign.
The Daily News claimed that Mermelstein and Abbasova met with an Azerbaijani government official just a few weeks after returning from a trip to the Asian country. One of the reasons they did this was to talk about bringing back direct flights between New York and Azerbaijan. The News also said that in September of last year, Adams' political adviser, Frank Carone, talked with a top Azerbaijani government official in the country.