Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday said he “follow(s) the rules” in response to a news report that his campaign accepted several new straw donations shortly after a federal judge dismissed his corruption case, which included allegations that his 2021 campaign used similar donations to conceal foreign contributions, at the behest of President Trump’s Justice Department.
Following an unrelated Thursday press conference, Hizzoner gave a brief response to the news site THE CITY’s reporting that his 2025 reelection campaign submitted 17 contributions suspected to have come from straw donors in May for public matching funds.
Two of the alleged donors told the news outlet that they did not contribute to any candidate. Another paid for the contribution via a credit card connected to their employer, while three more do not appear to live at their listed addresses. The news site kept the names of the alleged straw donors anonymous.
However, when reporters asked about the latest instance of Adams’ campaign accepting straw donations on Thursday, he said, “We follow all rules.” Adams has long insisted that his campaign does not knowingly accept straw donations, even though multiple instances of it doing so have been reported in recent years. They played a central role in his now-dismissed federal case.
“Those are credit card donations,” he added, referring to all the contributions made by credit card.
Adams did not elaborate any further, instead telling reporters to reach out to his campaign’s compliance attorney.
“Talk to Vito Pitta,” he said. “He does a great job on compliance.”
Pitta did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Adams’ campaign spokesperson Todd Shapiro provided a statement.
“As with any campaign receiving thousands of contributions, there may be a small number of instances requiring clarification or review,” Shapiro said. “In such cases, our campaign works closely and proactively with the New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) to ensure full compliance with all applicable regulations. Where necessary, donations have been voluntarily returned by CFB guidance and our longstanding commitment to transparency and integrity.”
The CFB has repeatedly denied Adams’ 2025 campaign’s public matching funds claims, citing its inability to file timely responses to the board’s requests for information.
Tim Hunter, a CFB spokesperson, declined to comment on the report.
Adams has been vigorously fundraising in recent months, after an extended lull late last year and early this year, to fuel his longshot independent bid for a second term. He is facing off against Democratic nominee Zohran Mamdani, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Republican nominee Curtis Sliwa, and independent attorney Jim Walden.
The donations reported by THE CITY, each of which was the maximum allowable amount of $2,100 a piece, arrived on two dates in May and totaled $35,700, the outlet reported. If the CFB approves the claims for the 8:1 match, sixteen of the donations could generate another $32,000 in matching funds for the mayor’s campaign.
The alleged illicit donations came just a month after Federal District Judge Dale Ho dropped Adams’ criminal indictment on April 2. Neither the DOJ’s rationale for dropping the charges nor Ho’s explanation for granting its request was based on the facts of the case.
Instead, Ho appeared to side with allegations that Adams traded his cooperation with Trump’s immigration crackdown for having his case scuttled, writing it “smacked of a bargain.”
Among the allegations in Adams’ indictment were that his campaign knowingly solicited and accepted thousands of dollars in straw donations, which it then used to rake in $10 million in matching funds. One of the businessmen named in Adams’ indictment, Erden Arkan, pleaded guilty to funnelling straw donations to the mayor’s 2021 campaign in January.
Another former mayoral aide accused of orchestrating a straw donor scheme was reportedly in talks with federal prosecutors about pleading guilty himself, as of April.
