Last November, Eric Adams set up a legal-defense fund allowing supporters to contribute toward expenses stemming from the ongoing federal investigation into his 2021 mayoral campaign. The fund’s first financial filing, which was made public Tuesday, revealed that it has already raised a substantial amount of money with the help of some familiar names.
Former mayor Michael Bloomberg contributed $5,000 to the fund, the maximum allowed by law, as did cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce, a former child actor turned entrepreneur who previously ran for president as an independent in the 2020 election. Shortly after being elected mayor, Adams flew on Pierce’s private plane to Puerto Rico to attend the annual SOMOS political conference. Also donating $5,000: Ukrainian businessman Leonard Blavatnik, who has some questionable ties, and real-estate billionaire Alexander Rovt and two members of his family, and Frank Carone, Adams’s former chief of staff who founded the consulting firm Oaktree Solutions. Adams himself donated $120.
The New York Times reports that the Eric Adams Legal Defense Trust has taken in $732,000 overall in a span of less than two months. Current employees of the city who work under Adams, or people who are engaged in business with it, are barred from donating. (Ex-mayors don’t count, clearly.)
Per the filing, the bulk of the fund’s expenses have gone toward legal services, paying $397,189 to the white-shoe law firm WilmerHale. $7,000 also went to Pitta, LLP, the firm of Vito Pitta, the mayor’s campaign lawyer. The Artus Group, a private-detective firm, received $18,664 for “vetting and investigative services.”
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