Mayor Eric Adams boisterously asserted he had “no idea” a grand jury had convened for the federal corruption probe into his campaign fundraising.
“I don’t know, I’m not a lawyer. I’m Eric Adams — the mayor! Ex-cop!” Hizzoner told clambering reporters upon his arrival at the 39th Annual 116th Street Festival in East Harlem Saturday.
“No idea. No idea. No idea,” he added as his team shot down further questions from the media.
Adams, 63, arrived two hours late to the Latin Festival just one day after The Post reported that the grand jury was reviewing evidence in the FBI probe — likely for the purpose of issuing subpoenas in the case.
At least one person connected to the mayor was served a subpoena linked to the investigation, sources said.
Adams claimed he wasn’t aware of the recent developments — despite repeatedly admitting he is a close reader of The Post.
“They don’t tell me stuff. Let it follow the process … Speak to the counsel. The counsel will explain to you the normal process,” he said.
The mayor — in a jolly mood despite the looming investigation — did not speak again on the topic before taking the stage for a few brief minutes.
His former rival, Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa, however, had plenty to say about the embattled mayor.
“The walls are closing in,” the Republican 2021 mayoral candidate said at the festival.
“Swagger man has no plan to get out of this. He’s not going to the White House. He originally thought he was. He may be going to the big house in chains and shackles.
“You have people in the administration who may have decided it’s time to become a confidential informer. Cause they don’t want to go down on the ship. That’s how the feds get you. They get the little fish but they want the whale. And everyone knows they want Eric Adams.”
Sliwa referenced rumors that a former City Hall aid — who was suspended for inappropriate conduct amid the federal probe — had flipped on Adams and was working as an FBI informant.
Ex-director of protocol in the Office for International Affairs Rana Abbasova’s New Jersey home was also raided by the FBI as part of the federal corruption investigation.
Adam’s top campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs and former Turkish Airlines executive Cenk Ocal, who worked on the mayor’s transition team, were also subjected to home searches.
“All these people are not gonna protect him. They’re gonna give him up,” Sliwa added.
The crowd shared a split reaction to the mayor’s appearance at the festival, which came two hours after he was scheduled to arrive.
“I’m two hours late here but I’m always on time,” Adams teased.
“I see that as meaningless pandering to the Puerto Rican constituency,” Orlando Plaza, 56, historian and former restaurant owner in Spanish Harlem, born and raised in the LES, said about the mayor’s visit.
Several shouted at him as he passed by to demand he spend his time helping the homeless, addressing the city’s sanitation problems, or focusing on other pressing issues.
“We should not be spending our hard-earned money on special parties for him and his cronies. We need to spend money on our parks that need to be kept and cleaned for our youth and the city of New York. That’s definitely more important than a cop city — that’s for damn sure,” Stephanie Sanchez, 35, a professional dancer and dance instructor, told The Post.
Simone McBride, a 41-year-old social worker from Spanish Harlem, agreed, saying they are “not happy with the mayor. Not at all.”
“I don’t think that funding cops and miscellaneous nonsense, like his parties for his people, are gonna be helpful for our city,” McBride said.
The FBI is probing whether Adams’ team conspired with the Turkish government to fuel his campaign with foreign donations and whether he urged the FDNY to fast-track permits for a new Turkish Consulate that had failed earlier safety inspection.
Neither Adams nor any member of his campaign has been accused of any wrongdoing.
