Atlanta City Hall Office Raided by FBI: Report

ATLANTA, GA — FBI agents raided an office in the Atlanta Procurement Division on Tuesday, according to news reports. (For more news on the Atlanta bribery scandal and other local stories, click here to get Patch's daily newsletter and free, real-time news alerts.)

Authorities reportedly escorted Atlanta Chief Procurement Officer Adam Smith out of the building. News outlets later reported that he had been fired.

"The City of Atlanta announced today that Adam Smith, Chief Procurement Officer, has been relieved of his duties effective immediately,” a statement from the city of Atlanta read, according to several news outlets.. “Chief Counsel Angela Hinton will serve as Interim Chief Procurement Officer until a permanent replacement is named."

Read more: 5 things about ex-Procurements Chief Adam Smith

The FBI raid comes amidst a deepening investigation into a bribery scandal at City Hall, which has entangled two contractors so far.

Elvin “E.R.” Mitchell Jr. and Charles P. Richards Jr. have pleaded guilty to paying bribe money for influence in city contracts.

Another businessman named in the scandal, Shandarrick L. Barnes, has become a central figure. He is accused of placing dead rats around Mitchell's home and throwing a brick through one of his windows. The brick had a message on it scribbled in chalk: "ER, keep your mouth shut!!"

Last week, the head of a watchdog group urged city employees to blow the whistle on anyone involved in the scandal.

“There are a lot of people in City Hall who currently work here or have worked here that I think have a lot of information," William Perry with Georgia Ethics Watchdogs told WAGA-TV. "But over the years they've been scared of losing their job and some have said outright they fear for their lives if they share information. But in the past they've never been able to step forward I think because there wasn't a safety net.”

The city recently released more than 1 million pages of documents related to the probe and pledged to do what it could to make the data digitally available.

Mayor Kasim Reed spoke publicly about the investigation a week ago, saying that if anyone thought he was involved in the corruption in any way, "You don't know what I have planned for my life."

The mayor said that he could only speak for himself.

A spokesperson from the city of Atlanta is expected to address the FBI raid later Tuesday, according to WSB.

Image courtesy of Tiffany Johnson