When Mayor Eric Adams of New York City announced that he was abandoning his bid for a second term, he cited, among other reasons, a decision by city regulators to deny matching funds to his campaign.
But he made no mention of an ongoing inquiry by the same regulators, the Campaign Finance Board, that is focused in part on whether to claw back $10 million in so-called matching funds from his successful mayoral campaign in 2021.
The inquiry is extraordinary not only for the amount of money potentially involved, but because the regulators are seeking to use evidence from the federal corruption case against Mr. Adams, which was abandoned by President Trump’s Justice Department under highly unusual circumstances earlier this year.
In June, the board began issuing subpoenas for documents and testimony to at least half a dozen people involved in the mayor’s federal case, according to seven people with knowledge of the matter. Some of the subpoenas were served on people who had cooperated with federal prosecutors and were expected to testify at the mayor’s trial; others went to people cited in the indictment or involved in his fund-raising. The subpoenas to those involved in the case have not been previously reported.
The inquiry is also unusual because the Campaign Finance Board has never in recent history sought to claw back matching funds from a mayoral candidate — let alone $10 million. Nor has it ever deployed subpoena power to gather evidence from a list of federal witnesses who had been set to testify at a mayor’s bribery and fraud trial.
But neither has a sitting New York City mayor been indicted in modern history, nor has one seen the charges against him — centered on his campaign fund-raising — cast aside by a presidential administration.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post Eric Adams’s Campaign Is Over. His Campaign Finance Problems Are Not. appeared first on New York Times.
