By Patrick Reilly and Larry Celona | New York Post
Federal authorities raided the home of NYPD Interim Commissioner Thomas Donlon on Friday — just over a week after his predecessor, Edward Caban, resigned following an FBI raid at his residence.
Donlon admitted to the search in a brief statement released by the department late Saturday night — saying that authorities “took materials that came into my possession 20 years ago and are unrelated to my work with the New York City Police Department.”
He added that the department would not be commenting further, as it’s not an NYPD matter.
Donlon, who was pulled out of retirement from his federal law enforcement career to be the city’s top cop, did not specify which federal agency searched his home.
Sources told the Post authorities are looking into whether he took classified documents while he was with the FBI and Department of Homeland Security.
The feds are sending a message to Mayor Eric Adams that “no one is safe,” as several members of his administration and inner circle are under investigation, another source said.
“As we have repeatedly said, we expect all team members to fully comply with any law enforcement inquiry,” City Hall spokesperson Fabian Levy said.
A law enforcement source told The Post that the feds are sending a message to Mayor Eric Adams that “no one is safe,” as several members of his administration and inner circle are under investigation.
Adams tapped Donlon, an NYPD outsider, to take over as New York City’s interim commissioner on Sept. 12 after Caban, an NYPD vet of 30 years, abruptly resigned amid a federal investigation.
Electronic devices were seized by federal agents at Caban’s and other city officials’ home as part of what sources described as a sweeping corruption probe involving potential influence peddling.
Caban cited the media frenzy surrounding the investigation, as well as a probe into his twin brother, as a “distraction” for the department in his resignation letter.
Others in Adams’ inner circle who are also ensnared by the federal dragnet were Deputy Mayor for Public Safety Phil Banks, former NYPD official Tim Pearson, Schools Chancellor David Banks and their brother Terence Banks and First Deputy Mayor Sheena Wright.
On Friday, the city’s head of asylum seeker services Molly Schaefer was subpoenaed by federal authorities as part of the probe into Pearson.
Donlon, a Bronx native, boasts a long resume in law enforcement at the local, state, federal and international levels.
The 57-year-old previously served as New York’s director of the Office of Homeland Security, ran the FBI’s National Threat Assessment Center and the FBI-NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force.
When he accepted the position as interim commissioner, Donlon vowed to “uphold the highest standards of integrity and transparency, and support our dedicated officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe.”
Additional reporting by Craig McCarthy