Fed Probe Could Put Kibosh on Adams' Reelection Cash

Indictment Casts Shadow on Adams’ Pursuit of Public Matching Funds for Reelection Bid

The mayor’s 2025 campaign has applied for $2.9 million in public funds under New York City’s $8-to-$1 matching system, but the program has already flagged $111,000 out of $370,000 in claims as "invalid.”

By Greg B. Smith

 

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NEW YORK - The historic federal indictment of Mayor Eric Adams alleging he obtained more than $10 million in public matching funds for his 2021 campaign under false pretenses now casts a shadow over his 2025 campaign's requests for more matching funds from the Campaign Finance Board.

Prosecutors allege that the 2021 campaign certified that all the contributions it had submitted for public matches were legitimate, even though Adams and those working under him actively participated in schemes to pass through funds from foreign donors to U.S. contributors, forbidden under the matching program.

Had the Campaign Finance Board known about these allegedly tainted contributions, the Adams campaign for mayor could have been deemed ineligible to receive portions of the $10 million or even removed from the matching funds program entirely. The city program provides $8 for every $1 donated from city residents, up to $250. 

The Adams campaign repeatedly ignored the repeated red flags raised by the CFB during the campaign about suspicious donations — and secured the record haul of public funding.

Now that the indictment has put CFB on notice about the alleged corruption to the public financing system, it is under heightened scrutiny over how it will assess Adams’ 2025 requests.

To date Adams has sought a public match for more than $370,000 in contributions collected through mid June that the campaign has claimed are eligible. 

But an analysis by THE CITY shows the Campaign Finance Board staff has already flagged more than $111,000 of those claims as "invalid" for a variety of reasons, including missing or suspicious information about the donor's identity. 

If all of the 1,585 claims Adams' 2025 campaign has so far submitted were approved — including 473 the CFB has tagged as "invalid" — the Adams 2025 campaign would receive more than $2.9 million in taxpayer dollars.

THE CITY has also highlighted donations to Adams' 2025 campaign that appear to violate the prohibition on passing contributions through other people, known as “straw donors.”

Three contributors listed on Adams 2025 filings to the Campaign Finance Board, and in two cases their spouses, told THE CITY that their donations, which ranged between $2,000 and $2,098, were reimbursed, in three cases by a hotel owner with ties to Adams' liaison to the Asian community, Winnie Greco, and in the other two by an employer.

And the indictment unsealed by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams also charges that Adams continued to seek illegal donations from foreign nationals for his 2025 re-election efforts. That includes a scheme in which the organizers disguised an Adams' fundraiser that included foreign donors by calling it a "sustainability" event.

The CFB has not yet approved any matching funds for any candidate and is not set to do so until mid-December. But last week, hours after Adams' indictment was unsealed, CFB Chairman Frederick Schaffer made clear all submissions by the mayor going forward will be carefully scrutinized by board staff, including his requests for matching funds.

"While the mayor is presumed innocent until proven guilty and deserves due process, the Board will nonetheless review all relevant information, including but not limited to the indictment, in order to uphold our city’s campaign finance rules and protect taxpayer dollars," Schaffer stated.

Prosecutors allege that in addition to receiving illegal donations, Adams obtained $120,000 in travel perks from Turkish sources during his many overseas jaunts that he didn't report on his financial disclosure forms. 

In exchange, they allege, the mayor did favors for his Turkish benefactors, including pressuring the FDNY to let the Turkish House consulate building open in time for a visit by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, even though fire inspectors had deemed it to be unsafe. 

The mayor's attorney, Alex Spiro, has ridiculed the entire indictment, stating, "This case isn't even a real case." He has called the travel perks "gratuities" that are not illegal under federal law and insisted that Adams had no personal knowledge of straw donations or contributions from foreign nationals.

Councilmember to CFB: Reject Adams

Whatever the fate of the federal case, Adams’ reelection campaign faces the serious threat of getting denied its matching funds request, which is due by Oct. 11. Any false certifications by the campaign, whether or not they were cited in the criminal indictment, could threaten Adams’ claims for taxpayer-funded support.

That's what happened to former city Comptroller John Liu during his 2013 mayoral run, after two of his campaign staffers were convicted of arranging a couple dozen straw donations. The CFB rejected his application for $3.5 million in matching funds and fined Liu $26,000, stating that "the use of straw donors obscures the true source of funds, and represents an attempt to obtain matching funds in violation of the Act and Board rules."

Last week Councilmember Lincoln Restler wrote to Schaffer, arguing that the false certification allegations laid out in the indictment should require the Campaign Finance Board to decline to provide Adams' 2025 campaign with a dime of public matching funds.

Restler said the 2021 campaign's pattern of simply ignoring CFB's concerns about specific questionable donations demonstrates its willingness to flout the rules aimed at ensuring the legitimacy of city elections.

"Time and again the CFB raised these red flags and the campaign ignored them," Restler said. "The integrity of our campaign finance system is at stake and Mayor Adams has demonstrated himself to not deserve another penny of taxpayer matching funds for any future campaign."

Adams' campaign lawyer Vito Pitta declined to answer THE CITY's questions about the indictment. He has said repeatedly the 2021 campaign followed all the rules "and will continue to follow all rules and best practices as mandated by the CFB."

To date Adams' 2025 campaign has partially withdrawn about 36 of the 473 matching funds claims CFB deemed "invalid," usually after acknowledging that the donor had given more than the $250 limit that is eligible to be matched and reducing the claim to that amount. Five claims were fully withdrawn because the contributions came from individuals who are on the "doing business with the city" list who are ineligible to be matched.

But the bulk of the matching funds claims remain intact in Adams' responses to the CFB. The board’s voting members will ultimately determine which are legitimate and which are invalid, awarding matching funds only for those contributions it decides are eligible.

The indictment unsealed Sept. 26 mostly takes aim at Adams' 2021 campaign, but does transition to focus on his 2025 re-election bid under the heading, "Adams continues his corrupt relationships after becoming mayor."

Prosecutors alleged that starting just days after his inauguration, Adams began fundraising for his re-election, asserting that the mayor "solicited and knowingly accepted straw and foreign contributions as part of his efforts to raise funds for the 2025 campaign."

This started with a scheme that kicked off just two weeks after Adams was sworn in as mayor, prosecutors charge — involving an elaborate subterfuge centered on a dinner by an phony organization a Turkish promoter invented called "International Sustainability Leaders," according to the indictment, all after Adams had directed the promoter to speak with a reelection campaign staffer. 

Adams attended the fundraiser/"sustainability" event at the hotel, during which the promoter introduced him to a Turkish businessman, prosecutors alleged. In a video of the event, Adams can be seen thanking the attendee for being there, the indictment alleged.

Adams' fundraiser advised the foreign donors to make their donations through straw donors well ahead of the event so the event wouldn't seem connected to the donations.

The Adams staffer listed the event on Adams' private calendar as "Fundraiser for Eric Adams 2025.”

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