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Eric Adams sues NYC Campaign Finance Board over denial of $3.4M in matching funds
By
Brigid Bergin
Published May 27, 2025
Modified May 27, 2025
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Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
By
Brigid Bergin
Published May 27, 2025
Modified May 27, 2025
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Mayor Eric Adams’ re-election campaign is suing the New York City Campaign Finance Board to overturn its decision to deny him more than $3.4 million in public matching funds.
In a complaint filed Tuesday in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn, Adams’ campaign argues the board improperly relied on a criminal indictment that has since been dismissed.
“If the CFB has any evidence beyond the indictment, it would have relied on that evidence publicly to support its determination because of its stated commitment to transparency,” Robert Spolzino, an attorney for Adams’ campaign, wrote in the complaint. “The CFB’s failure to cite any evidence to support its determination other than the indictment establishes that the CFB has no other evidence.”
In an emailed statement, Spolzino added, “An indictment is an allegation, not a fact. Government decisions have to be based on facts.”
He called the board’s decision unfair and said it “deprived Mayor Adams and his supporters of the right to campaign on the same terms as every other candidate.”
The 2024 federal indictment accused Adams of orchestrating illegal straw donations to his 2021 mayoral campaign in exchange for official favors, including fast-tracking permits for a Turkish consulate. The case was dismissed earlier this year, after President Donald Trump’s Justice Department intervened. Newly unsealed documents showed the FBI had continued investigating Adams and his associates as recently as January.
The CFB declined to comment on the case. But in its previous statements, the board has cited several other reasons for denying the funds, including the campaign’s failure to respond to information requests and Adams’ failure to file a timely financial disclosure form.
The lawsuit comes as Adams runs for re-election as an independent. Despite the dismissal of his federal indictment, documents unsealed earlier this month indicated prosecutors had planned to add charges including obstruction of justice.
The lawsuit was first reported by Politico New York.
This story has been updated with additional comment from Robert Spolzino.
Tagged
new york city
Politics
eric adams
Brigid Bergin
Brigid Bergin is an award-winning senior reporter on the People and Power desk. She is fiercely committed to telling stories that help people engage and support democracy. In 2022, she hosted a live, ten-week call-in politics show ahead of the midterm elections called The People's Guide to Power. Brigid's reporting in 2017 included some of the first coverage of a political newcomer now known as AOC. In 2016, she broke the news of a voter purge in Brooklyn just days before New York’s presidential primary, triggering city, state and federal investigations. Brigid also guest hosts The Brian Lehrer Show and All Of It. She graduated from the University at Albany and the CUNY Newmark School of Journalism. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-723-4719.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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