Mayor Eric Adams is buried beneath a growing mountain of unpaid bills he acquired during historic bribery cases as his donors to the defense fund have disappeared for good.
Hizzoner has over $3 million unpaid tabs for fighting federal corruption accusations, and his famous lawyer, Alex Spiro, has charged him nearly $2.3 million, according to his latest public application.
However, Spiro’s law firm has not yet requested representatives from Adams this year. Quinn Emmanuel has charged the mayor about $775,000 in the last three months of 2024.
At the same time, the fund failed to collect one donation this year.
A federal judge approved the dismissal of a lawsuit filed by the Southern District of New York in early April after a controversial order from Trump DOJ.
The firing of the incumbent mayor and the delay in historic low vote count led Adams to pivot from the Democratic primary and set his sights as an independent in the November general election.
Third-party victory is a small political opportunity, but it gives the mayor a potential connection in the public eye to raise money.
Adams also pays for his former lead lawyer, Brendan McGuire’s law firm and his defense fund manager, Vito Pita’s Vito Pita, according to a quarterly filing with the quarterly profit committee, released late Tuesday.
Todd Shapiro, a spokesman for Adams’ campaign, is exploring all the right paths to dealing with debt without undermining his obligations to the city.
“With the recent dismissal of the charges, he is now focusing on restoring public confidence and ensuring that all obligations, including legal costs, are met in a transparent and ethical way,” he added.
Adams’ campaign has faced similar hurdles in recent months, and donations have dry out as supporters seem unlikely to be re-elected, but he still has a war chest worth more than $3 million.
