It allegedly happened again, and again, and again—during the 2021 election, Eric Adams's mayoral campaign received donations from people who were either reimbursed for their donations, or were completely unaware their names were being used to funnel money into his campaign.
Thanks to the City's matching funds program, the impact of that money mushroomed—Adams raised $20 million for his 2021 campaign, $10 million of which came from matching funds. (2021 was also the year that matching funds jumped from a six-to-one match to an eight-to-one match, meaning that candidates would be rewarded handsomely if they were able to pinpoint the small-figure donations that could then turn into large pots of cash.)
But while law enforcement has caught up with a few donors who gamed the system, the more comprehensive standard audit of Adams's campaign by the New York City Campaign Finance Board—whose job it is to hand out matching funds and regulate the system, and then hand out financial penalties to those who break the rules—is somehow, three years since the 2021 primary, still ongoing. (Neither Adams nor his campaign has been accused of any wrongdoing by law enforcement, so far.)
On Friday, the City Council held a hearing on a cluster of bills that would help alert CFB regulators to possible straw donations, well before the agency is able to conclude the time-intensive audit process. At a council hearing on Friday focused on the CFB, the bills' sponsor (and frequent Adams critic) Brooklyn Councilmember Lincoln Restler said that part of the impetus for the legislation was Adams's campaign, noting that "there were major differences in the way money came into his campaign" as compared to other mayoral candidates.
One bill would make candidates send more information to the CFB about their donors, including their mailing addresses (which, incredibly, the CFB does not currently ask to be provided). Another bill would mandate that the CFB contact those donors to see if they were legitimate within weeks of making the donation. And a third bill would place a maximum threshold on the amount of "bundled" donations that business owners who had business in front of the City would be allowed to contribute. Finally, one bill would pause matching funds for campaigns that did not respond to CFB inquiries within thirty days.
During the hearing, Paul Ryan, the executive director of the CFB, said that he is a supporter of Restler's bills—and wants them to go even further. In addition to mandating that donors' mailing addresses be shared, he would like campaigns to also report those donors' phone numbers and email addresses, so the CFB can follow up with them.
“I think it would help uncover those straw donors,” Ryan told the council.
But the bill that would pause matching funds for non-responsiveness was slammed by advocates of the matching fund program as being way too onerous. "You have a rat hole so you put a nuclear bomb in it? Is that what you want to be doing?” Reinvent Albany's John Kaehny told WNYC/Gothamist.
Right now, the CFB is struggling to rein in campaigns that have possible illegal donations in real time. During the 2021 election season, according to emails obtained by WNYC/Gothamist's Brigid Bergin, the CFB was hounding the Adams campaign for more information about donors:
On at least 13 separate occasions between February 2019 and November 2021, ahead of the general election, the agency sent the Adams’ campaign a review of its donations, highlighting specific instances where the campaign needed to supply additional information. Each statement review included a letter from the agency reminding the campaign of what needed to be done to respond to its information requests and the deadline to respond by.
What happened when the CFB continued to press the Adams campaign for this information? The campaign simply stopped replying.
These bills, which would go into effect for the 2025 campaign, could clamp down on the type of straw donations that helped power Adams's first campaign and are now allegedly powering his 2025 campaign.
While the bills could help flag straw donations earlier, the CFB can already wield a much bigger stick—if it finds during its audit that the Adams campaign did coordinate a straw donor scheme during the 2021 campaign, it could deny him matching funds for 2025. That's if it finishes its 2021 audit before the 2025 campaign, or, optimally, before the sun extinguishes itself and our solar system becomes a dark and lifeless void. Whatever comes first.
Here's some links offered with full documentation of their provenance:
- What if you accidentally did do straw donations, but for good?
- Brad Lander is seriously considering a run for mayor.
- The outgoing MTA subways and buses chief says Kathy Hochul's congestion pricing "pause" could lead to subway breakdowns in the near future.
- Schools Chancellor David Banks kicked two parent leaders off of their respective Community Education Councils, one for being anti-trans and the other for being pro-Palestine.
- Fines given out to vendors in City parks have gone up 30 percent since 2019.
- The state is testing the soil around the Gowanus Canal for toxic vapors.
- Will progressive Democrats be able to save Jamaal Bowman's political life? (Not looking good!)
- Michael Cohen is considering a 2026 primary against one of New York's most prominent liberals.
- Old New Yorkers love edibles, younger people like their vape pens, according to new data.
- Diddy has returned the key to the city given to him by Eric Adams last year, after Adams asked for it back.
- New York City's cutest li'l observatory is being held back by red tape.
- And finally, Crackhead Barney has DONE IT AGAIN.
