BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — On November 6, 2019, F.B.I. agents, together with Housing and Urban Development, Office of the Inspector General and I.R.S. officials conducted a court authorized search warrant inside Buffalo City Hall.
The day-long raid centering around the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Planning with focus on two agencies: the Buffalo Urban Development Corporation and the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency (BURA).
Agents hauled away two large carts of documents covered by blue tarps.
It was a scene that left its mark on Buffalo history, and since then there haven’t been any updates about the investigation from the F.B.I. An F.B.I. spokeswoman said there is still no further information about the activity conducted roughly 18 months ago.
7 Eyewitness News Legal Analyst Florina Altshiler said she isn’t surprised the investigation is ongoing. “With federal investigations things can take time, and by time, I mean years, potentially. There has to be a human being sitting there reading every single sentence of every single page, and that takes time.”
A source close to the mayor told 7 Eyewitness News that Mayor Brown hasn’t been interviewed or subpoenaed by any federal agency.
The 2019 raid marked the fourth raid in five years of an agency or home with ties to Mayor Brown. Here’s what he told 7 Eyewitness News earlier this month when asked about alleged scandals surrounding his administration. “I’m still here, right? I’ve been here for 15 years. So, I would say that there are no scandals.”
