Mayor Eric Adams claims he is fighting to obtain millions of dollars in public matching funds that a city board has denied his re-election campaign in light of his federal corruption charges alleging misuse of the system.
During his weekly media briefing Monday, Adams insisted he is full speed ahead on his campaign for re-election.
“People are catching up to me. I outpaced everyone. And we’re going to continue to fight to get our matching funds,” he said, adding, “We know how to do this.”
But three months after the city Campaign Finance Board (CFB) shot down the Adams 2025 committee’s request for $4 million in matching funds, his campaign has made zero effort to challenge the rejection and try to get the requested public dollars, which would double the size of his current $4.4 million campaign warchest.
The campaign has yet to file a petition challenging the December decision, with the June 24 primary just over three months away. And it appears the campaign has made no effort whatsoever to contest the denial of matching funds. In response to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, the CFB on Thursday provided THE CITY with all communications between the board and Adams’ 2025 campaign.
On Dec. 17, the day after the board announced publicly they’d decided to deny the campaign’s request for matching funds, Adams’ campaign lawyer, Vito Pitta, sent a one paragraph email to a CFB staffer requesting details on the basis for the denial “in order to determine whether we will petition for reconsideration.”
The CFB responded that day with a letter pointing to the allegations spelled out in the indictment, then followed up each month with emails or letters noting that their request for matching funds was still denied, but reminding the Adams campaign that they could appeal that decision if they so choose.
The initial notice cited only the allegations of fraudulent donations referenced in the indictment as the reason for the denial, plus the campaign’s refusal to turn over requested documentation related to those allegedly suspect donations. Subsequent notices went further, however, citing more problems CFB had uncovered, including that the campaign had not provided documentation of more than 10% of the contributions it had received.
“You may petition the board in writing for reconsideration of this public funds determination,” each notice stated, adding that the petition “must state the grounds for reconsideration and may include a request to appear before the Board.”
After the one terse email from Pitta, there were no further communications with the board from him or anyone else in the Adams campaign, according to the records provided by CFB to THE CITY.
Pitta did not respond to THE CITY’s requests about the campaign’s intentions regarding matching funds going forward as the clock continues to tick, with early voting starting June 14. Adams’ campaign has been spotted collecting signatures to get on the Democratic primary ballot.
Since Manhattan federal prosecutors unsealed an indictment charging him with bribery and campaign finance fraud in September, the mayor has struggled to raise money for his campaign. His campaign’s most recent financial disclosure, through March 13, showed he has raised only $36,000 over the last few months, of which he refunded $18,000 to donors who exceeded contribution limits or for other reasons.
Many of his supporters abandoned him after the Department of Justice moved last month to dismiss the criminal case, seeking, federal officials said, to gain his assistance in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
The New York Post reported Thursday that Adams’ former first deputy mayor, Lorraine Grillo, hosted a fundraiser for campaign rival Andrew Cuomo. Since the former governor entered the Democratic primary contest earlier this month with a dominant lead despite sexual harassment and corruption scandals that drove him from office, Adams’ poll numbers in the primary campaign field have hovered in the single digits.
On Monday Adams insisted he’s running as a Democrat, but signs point to a possible ploy in the works for him to run as an independent in November.
On Tuesday, a key advisor to Adams, lobbyist and former mayoral chief of staff Frank Carone, told NY1’s Errol Louis “The mayor is certainly running to win, and I believe he is going to win,” Carone said, but added: “there is a general [election] as well in November so the actual race is eight months away.”
Asked by Louis about the possibility of an independent run, Carone responded, “He’ll announce his own plans.” Alluding to the criminal case, Carone added, “As soon as he puts his matter behind him he’s going to freely discuss what his intentions are.”
How soon Adams will have his federal corruption charges behind him remains an open question. Manhattan Federal Judge Dale Ho must weigh in on the DOJ’s motion to dismiss this criminal case, but he has given multiple outside parties permission to file so-called “friend of the court” briefs arguing both for and against dismissal — and those have yet to come in.
Ho’s decision could ultimately play into whether Adams takes actual steps to obtain matching funds. CFB cited the federal indictment against the mayor — which included an allegation that Adams illegally obtained the $10 million in matching funds for his winning 2021 run for mayor — as part of the reason for denying his campaign the $4 million in public money his campaign claimed it was entitled to.
In a Dec. 18 letter to the campaign, CFB Director of Auditing and Accounting Danielle Willemin declared the campaign “has not demonstrated eligibility for a public funds payment” due to the board’s belief that it “engaged in conduct detrimental to the program” described in the federal indictment, tied to both the 2021 and 2025 campaigns.
She noted the indictment alleged both of Adams’ campaigns solicited and accepted illegal “straw donations” designed to conceal the true source of the funds, including some from foreign sources, and then submitting those donations for public match.
Willemin also cited another obstacle to reversing the denial: the campaign’s repeated refusal to supply the CFB with documents related to the illegal donations described in the indictment. Months before announcing the denial, the board demanded records related to each of the suspect donations referenced in the indictment. In response, Pitta informed the board the campaign would not be providing any such records because of the indictment.
Prosecutors allege Adams accepted thousands of dollars in illegal contributions, along with some $120,000 in travel perks, from associates of the Turkish government in exchange for helping them overcome city bureaucratic issues.
As THE CITY first reported in December, in that same letter Willemin warned that Adams could face an even bigger headache: based on the allegations outlined in the indictment, the Adams campaign could be found to be in “breach” of certification for public funds.
That could result in the board seeking to claw back the $10 million in matching funds the mayor received in his 2021 campaign.
Our nonprofit newsroom relies on donations from readers to sustain our local reporting and keep it free for all New Yorkers. Donate to THE CITY today.
The post Eric Adams Has Made Zero Effort to Challenge His Campaign Matching Funds Denial appeared first on THE CITY – NYC News.
