Mayor Eric Adams is buried under a growing mountain of unpaid legal bills he racked up during a historic bribery case — as donors to his defense fund completely disappear.
Hizzoner has an unpaid tab of more than $3 million for his fight against federal corruption charges, with his high-profile attorney Alex Spiro billing him nearly $2.3 million, according to his latest public filing.
But Spiro’s law firm has yet to charge Adams for representation this year, which could add hundreds of thousands of dollars to his growing debt. Quinn Emanuel charged the mayor about $775,000 in the last three months of 2024.
At the same time, the fund failed to collect a single donation this year.
A federal judge signed off on the dismissal of the case brought by the Southern District of New York in early April after a controversial order from the Trump DOJ, which sparked an exodus of prosecutors, including the interim head of the Lower Manhattan office.
The delay in dismissal and historic low polling numbers for an incumbent mayor led to Adams pivoting from the Democratic primary and setting his sights on the November general election as an independent.
While the political chances for a third-party victory are slim, it gives the mayor months of potential relevance in the public eye to raise money.
Adams also owes the law firm of his former chief counsel, Brendan McGuire, more than $2 million and his defense fund manager, Vito Pita, nearly $100,000, according to the quarterly filing with the Conflict of Interest Board released late Tuesday.
Adams’ campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro played down the abysmal filing, saying, “The mayor is exploring all appropriate avenues to address the debt without compromising his duties to the city.
“With the recent dismissal of charges, he is now focused on restoring public trust and ensuring that all obligations, including legal expenses, are met in a transparent and ethical manner,” he added.
Adams’ campaign has faced a similar hurdle over recent months with donations drying up as supporters seemingly saw little chance that he could be re-elected, but he still has more than $3 million in his war chest.
Adams’ campaign has faced a similar hurdle over recent months with donations drying up as supporters seemingly saw little chance that he could be re-elected, but he still has more than $3 million in his war chest.