Democratic New York Mayor Eric Adams has been followed by campaign finance questions since his term began, with several donors indicted in multiple contributions schemes and his own office ignoring oversight agencies.
Adams supporters have run straw donor schemes and been investigated on bribery charges while the mayor himself has been fined for taking prohibited donations. Some of the mayor’s former associates have even been indicted in relation to activities intended to raise money for the mayor.
Six people, one a known associate of Adams, were charged in July in connection with a straw donor scheme intended to abuse the city’s taxpayer-backed donation-matching program and to gain influence with the mayor, according to The Associated Press. The individuals charged were accused of recruiting friends and relatives to use the money they had given them to make small-dollar donations to Adams, which would then be matched 8-to-1 by the city.
“The idea is that using straw donors who get reimbursed, as opposed to bona fide campaign contributors, essentially defrauds the City and the taxpayer out of matching funds which are unjustly awarded to a campaign that wouldn’t have otherwise qualified for those dollars,” Robert Morgan, a lawyer familiar with New York City campaign finance law, told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
A construction company implicated in the scheme had secured contracts with the city and, following the plot, allegedly coordinated with others involved to try to secure city contracts, the New York Daily News reported. The city terminated its contracts with the business after its owners were charged in connection with the straw donor case. (RELATED: Multiple Eric Adams Donors Say They Had No Idea They Chipped In Max Contributions To His Campaign)
A spokesperson for Adams denied that the mayor had any knowledge of the alleged illicit donations and denied that he had communicated about business with any of those charged, though conceded that the mayor had likely spoken with one of the defendants about other things, according to the AP. Adams’ deputy director for food policy, however, organized a fundraiser with one of the individuals indicted in the straw donor case, according to court documents reported on by the New York Post.
In a separate incident, three hosts of an August 2021 Adams fundraiser were investigated for bribery and mob-related crimes by the city in August 2023, according to The New York Times. One organizer under investigation, Eric Ulrich, who was charged by the Manhattan District Attorney on Sept. 13, was appointed as New York City building commissioner by Adams after he won the 2021 New York mayoral election.
Adams announced on Sept. 26 that he would return the $31,000 that Ulrich helped steer toward his mayoral campaign, the Washington Examiner reported. New York’s campaign finance database has no record of contributions being returned since that announcement, according to a DCNF analysis.
New York City’s campaign finance record database show no contribution refunds to Ronald Peek, Shamsuddin Riza, Dwayne Montgomery, Yahya Mushtaq or Shahid Mushtaq, individuals indicted in the July straw donor case.
Adams has been officially sanctioned for his campaign finance conduct in the past.
On May 15, the Adams campaign was fined $19,600 for, among other things, ignoring and slow-walking requested documents and taking donations from individuals with business before the city. Such donations are prohibited to guard against bribery and corruption, according to The City, a local news website.
Months later, Adams is still ignoring campaign finance officials. The New York Campaign Finance Board flagged 600 donations totaling $300,000, plus an additional $522,000 from the city’s public matching program, as having been received in a way that could violate campaign finance rules, and requested that Adams provide information about those donations, which he had yet to do, The City reported in September.
Morgan told the DCNF that the mayor could face fines for not responding to requests from the office.
(Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Family Equality)
A fundraiser and donor for Adams was revealed last year to have been aiding the Chinese government in harassing dissidents in the United States. Adams has also taken donations from individuals charged with racketeering and a former city official who threw drug parties in public offices, according to the Daily News.
The Mayor’s office did not respond to the DCNF’s request for comment. The New York City Campaign Finance Board declined to comment.
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