Federal investigators have raided the Queens home of the the Rev. Alfred Cockfield II, an influential pastor who runs a political action committee he formed to support Eric Adams’ 2021 run for mayor, the Daily News has learned.
The Far Rockaway home of the pastor was raided about two weeks ago as part of an investigation led by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office, two sources familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
It wasn’t immediately clear what investigators took from Cockfield’s home, and a spokesman for Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Breon Peace declined to discuss what prompted the raid. Cockfield didn’t immediately return a request for comment.
According to the New York Times, the raid was part of an investigation into Striving for a Better New York, a PAC that Cockfield launched in 2021 to support Adams. City Hall referred questions to Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, who could not immediately be reached for comment.
Although the Cockfield PAC was launched to support political causes aligned with Adams’ agenda, public disclosures show it pays Cockfield a six-figure salary. The PAC also contributed $60,000 to a charter school in Brooklyn operated by Cockfield, filings show.
The PAC also paid six figures in compensation to Brianna Suggs, Adams’ longtime campaign fundraiser whose home was raided in November 2023 as part of the federal investigation into the mayor’s Turkish government connections that resulted in his recent indictment on corruption charges.
Cockfield has long been close with Adams and other politicians, including former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who appointed the pastor to the Long Island Power Authority’s board of trustees in 2021.
More recently, Cockfield appeared with Adams outside Gracie Mansion on Sept. 26 with a group of faith leaders voicing solidarity with him in the wake of his criminal indictment. Adams has pleaed not guilty to corruption charges brought by outgoing Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. A number of Adams’ former top aides have also been ensnared in federal probes.
The news outlet The City reported that Weihong Hu, a campaign fundraiser for Adams, hired Cockfield to help her with city government business matters as she sought to develop a hotel in Queens early in the mayor’s City Hall tenure. One of Hu’s hotels was raided by the feds last week, also in connection with an investigation led by the Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office.
It isn’t clear if the hotel raid is part of the same probe that prompted the search of Cockfield’s home. The Brooklyn U.S. attorney’s office is also conducting an investigation during which they raided properties associated with Winnie Greco, a key adviser to the mayor who is close with Hu.
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