Mayor Eric Adams has long vowed to fight his pending legal case after federal prosecutors indicted him last year on charges of bribery and campaign-finance fraud. But donations to the fund intended to support his defense appear to be drying up as his trial draws nearer.
The City first reported that Adams’s legal defense trust is close to a million dollars in debt, largely owing to significant legal fees. The Daily News places the figure at around $925,000. After his indictment, Adams retained defense lawyer Alex Spiro as his counsel, a prominent name who has represented celebrities like Jay-Z and Alec Baldwin. Filings for Adams’s defense fund show a $200,000 retainer fee paid in October to Spiro’s firm, Quinn Emanuel. The fund also paid out $411,776.39 to the law firm WilmerHale in November.
As those sizable payments go out, not much money is coming back in. According to financial filings, the fund has only received three donations within the past three months. In November, Tzvi Odzer, a businessman previously pardoned by Donald Trump for bank fraud, donated $2,000 to the fund. In December, attorney Alan Sclar gave two donations of $100 each. The fund was first established back in November 2023 after it was revealed that there was an ongoing federal corruption probe into Adams and his 2021 mayoral campaign. Adams’s trial is currently set to begin in April.
Initially, the fund included contributions from many prominent names, such as former Ticketmaster CEO Irving Azoff and Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan. However, the Daily News reported in December that the fund returned those donations and ones from other business partners and relatives of Dolan, totaling $35,000, owing to conflict-of-interest concerns.
As Adams awaits trial, his reelection bid might be in trouble as well. A recent poll found the incumbent mayor trailing behind former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is reportedly considering jumping into the race, by double digits among likely voters.