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NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Federal agents investigating New York City Mayor Eric Adams were still seizing phones and applying for search warrants days before Justice Department leaders ordered prosecutors to drop the corruption case, according to documents released Friday.

The trove of court records, which had been sealed, opens a window into the criminal case and show that even as Washington officials were backing away from the prosecution, investigators in Manhattan were moving forward.

The documents also confirm something prosecutors revealed previously: That a federal investigation into whether Adams took improper campaign contributions began in the summer of 2021, when the Democrat was still in his old job of Brooklyn borough president but widely expected to win the mayor’s race that fall.

Adams has repeatedly said he believed he was prosecuted because, much later, as mayor, he had criticized former President Joe Biden’s immigration policies.

The investigation first spilled into public view in November 2023, when FBI agents seized Adams鈥� phones and iPad as he was leaving an event in Manhattan. He was charged 10 months later with accepting free travel and illegal campaign contributions from people seeking to buy his influence, including a Turkish diplomat.

But on Feb. 10, weeks after President Donald Trump took office, the new leadership of the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors in New York to drop the charges, arguing the case was hindering his ability to assist in the Republican administration鈥檚 crackdown on illegal immigration.

The extraordinary directive roiled federal prosecutors鈥� offices in Manhattan and Washington. Rather than implement the order, multiple prosecutors resigned, including the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, A judge ultimately said he legally had no choice but to dismiss the case at the request of senior Justice Department officials.

Prosecutors were continuing to dig into Adams in the weeks before the case got halted, and Sassoon has said they were on the verge of bringing additional charges against him for obstruction of justice.

On Feb. 7 a judge had signed off on an application to search a phone that an unidentified subject of the investigation had turned over in response to a subpoena. Weeks earlier, a judge had signed a warrant to search a home in Middletown, New York, in connection with a probe of alleged straw donations made to Adams campaign in 2020. Around the same time, prosecutors requested a warrant to access location data for a mobile phone in that investigation. On Dec. 4, a judge had approved a request by federal investigators to search a town house in Queens.

Searches and seizures

U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho ordered the records unsealed at the request of The New York Times and, later, the New York Post. The Times argued in court papers that there was a 鈥減articularly compelling鈥� case for making them public because there would be no trial. Neither Adams鈥� lawyers, nor prosecutors opposed the request.

The documents offer an intriguing behind-the-scenes look at how investigators pieced their case together through searches of electronics and physical locations around New York and beyond.

The unsealed documents also revealed that in May 2024, a magistrate judge signed off on a warrant to search the Fort Lee, New Jersey, condominium home of the mayor’s longtime romantic partner, Tracey Collins, who formerly served as a senior official in the city鈥檚 Department of Education.

The warrant application does not name Collins directly but identifies her as Adams’ partner and says that the mayor also sometimes uses the home. Agents wanted to do the search to get access to five iPhones as they looked into whether an official connected to the Turkish consulate sought help getting a child admitted to a highly sought-after public middle school.

Also included was the September 2024 application for a warrant to search Gracie Mansion, the mayor鈥檚 official residence in Manhattan, providing photos of the building from multiple angles.

An affidavit from an FBI agent notes that location data for one of Adams鈥� phones suggests he spends the 鈥渙vernight hours鈥� of Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at the residence 鈥渁nd occasionally does so on other days as well.鈥�

Adams meets with Trump

Neither Adams鈥� office nor his campaign spokesperson immediately returned messages seeking comment Friday evening.

Adams has touted the dismissal of the case as a vindication, while denying that he cut a deal with Trump in exchange for leniency. But he has maintained a warm relationship with the president after his case was dismissed. The two leaders met in Washington on Friday, with Trump later telling reporters that 鈥淚 think he actually came in to thank me.鈥�

Adams鈥� office released a statement that said they discussed 鈥渃ritical infrastructure projects, as well as the preservation of essential social services, among other topics.鈥�

Even with the criminal charges behind him, Adams faces an uncertain political future. He recently announced that he would skip the Democratic primary in June and instead run as an independent in the November general election.

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Associated Press writers Jennifer Peltz, Anthony Izaguirre, Ruth Brown, Philip Marcelo, David B. Caruso and Larry Neumeister contributed to this report.