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Mayor Eric Adams has collected $732,000 in less than two months for legal fees related to a federal investigation into his campaign fundraising, according to a filing Tuesday.
Contributors to Mr. Adams’ defense fund include many wealthy business and political figures, including at least four people who are said to be billionaires: former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg; , Ukrainian-British oligarch Leonard Blavatnik, businessman-real estate and fertilizer tycoon Alexander Lovt and cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce.
The fund has disbursed $440,000 so far, much of it to WilmerHale, the law firm Adams hired to represent him in the investigation, according to filings.
Recent legislation allows elected officials to establish a defense fund to cover costs associated with criminal and civil investigations that are unrelated to their official duties and cannot be covered by public funds. These defense funds can collect up to $5,000 per donor, but they cannot solicit or receive donations from people who have city contracts or business problems with city government. That is not allowed.
The Eric Adams Legal Defense Trust was formed late last year after the FBI searched the home of Brianna Suggs, Adams’ chief campaign fundraiser at the time. The city filed its first filing with the city’s Conflicts of Interest Commission on Tuesday, as required by law.
Adams, who also announced the city’s interim budget on Tuesday, told reporters he welcomes support from donors who thank him for his “lifelong service” from his time as a transit police officer to his time as mayor.
“New Yorkers called me and said, ‘I want to help,'” he says. “People knew my personality and said, ‘We want to help.'”
Four billionaires and their relatives donated a total of $40,000 to the fund. Pierce, a former child actor and current cryptocurrency investor, has previously supported the mayor. Adams has praised cryptocurrencies and flew to Puerto Rico on Pierce’s private jet shortly after being elected mayor. Since running for mayor, Mr. Adams has also cultivated a relationship with Mr. Bloomberg, who left City Hall at the end of 2013.
Frank Carone, Mr. Adams’ first chief of staff and longtime adviser, and his family donated $20,000, and Mr. Carone’s wife, Lori Fensterman, a former law partner, gave $5,000. The mayor himself, a Brooklyn native named Eric Adams, made two donations totaling $120 to the fund.
Other donors include Jennifer Rajkumar, a state representative from Queens and a close friend of Mr. Adams, who gave $2,500. Pulmonologist and diet book author Angelo Acquista and his wife Svetlana Acquista donated a total of $10,000 to Mr. Adams. Casa Cipriani owner Michael Caia and two of his family members donated $15,000. Mr. Kaia recently organized a celebration at the club that reportedly raised about $10 million for victims of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, and Mr. Adams also attended.
The bulk of the fund’s spending to date, about $397,000, has gone to WilmerHale, and Adams’ legal team includes former top prosecutors in the Southern District of New York, Brendan McGuire and Boyd Johnson. included, and is conducting an investigation with Mr. WilmerHale. Mr. McGuire of the FBI also previously served as Mr. Adams’ chief adviser at City Hall.
The fund also paid $7,500 to the law firm Pitta LLP, whose attorney Vito Pitta oversees the defense fund. It paid two companies approximately $25,000 for “investigation and investigative services” and “forensic data collection.” Bedford Grove, which helped raise money for the foundation, was paid $9,750.
The Conflict of Interest Commission ruled that city contribution limits prohibit Adams’ predecessor, Mayor Bill de Blasio, from seeking more than $50 per donor to pay for the large amount of legal fees he racked up across the state. In response, the City Council authorized the creation of a legal defense fund in 2019. and a federal investigation into his fundraising.
The investigation into Mayor Adams’ fundraising activities surfaced in early November. On the same day that Suggs’ home was raided, FBI agents with a warrant also went to the New Jersey home of Lana Abbasova, an aide in Adams’ international affairs office, and Cenk Okal, a former Turkish Airlines executive. I turned myself in. I’m on his transition team. A few days later, officers stopped Adams on the street after a public event and seized several electronic devices from the mayor.
The FBI and federal prosecutors in Manhattan are investigating whether the Turkish government colluded with Mr. Adams’ campaign to funnel foreign donations into his campaign coffers and whether Mr. Adams was appointed to the new high-ranking Turkish consul general despite security concerns. An investigation is underway into whether pressure was put on fire authorities to approve the building’s construction.
Neither Adams nor anyone involved in the investigation has been accused of wrongdoing. The mayor and his representatives said they strictly followed the law in their fundraising efforts.
New campaign financing disclosures for the 2025 mayoral race were also released on Tuesday. This is the first such filing since the federal investigation into the Adams campaign came to light. They revealed that Adams’ campaign has raised $524,800 since July, which is significantly lower than in the first half of 2023, when he raised $1.3 million.
The mayor’s campaign received nearly 600 donors, including lawyers and real estate leaders, including attorney and radio host Arthur Aidala and Madison Square Garden attorney Randy Mastro, who each gave $2,100. . Only about 20 donations were collected after the Nov. 2 raid on the home of the mayor’s chief fundraiser.
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