NYC Mayor Eric Adams' defense trust more than $3 million in the red after no donations in latest period

Chris Sommerfeldt, New York Daily News on Apr 16, 2025

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NEW YORK — Mayor Eric Adams’ legal defense trust is more than $3 million in the red after not receiving a single contribution in the latest reporting period, leaving him with a huge debt to deal with even as he celebrates the dismissal of his federal corruption case, a new filing reveals.

Adams’ trust, which he has used to pay for legal fees amid his now-dead corruption indictment, had as of the March 31 cutoff of the most recent three-month reporting stretch spent just shy of $4.9 million, according to the new filing released shortly before midnight Tuesday. About half of that, just under $2.5 million, has been paid to Quinn Emanuel, the law firm that employs Alex Spiro, the celebrity lawyer who has been Adams’ lead defense attorney in his criminal case.

By contrast, the trust has only raised just over $1.8 million, meaning it’s to date at least $3.1 million in the hole, per the paperwork.

In a sign Adams’ legal bills are likely to pile up further, the disbursements to Spiro’s firm are reported in the records as being monthly retainer payments of about $750,000, spanning from September 2024 through December 2024.

Spiro has continued to represent Adams in 2025, at least all the way up until earlier this month, when President Donald Trump’s Justice Department secured a dismissal of the mayor’s indictment in a manner that many believe has left him beholden to Trump’s political agenda.

Spiro didn’t immediately return a request for comment Wednesday about whether he’s still on retainer representing Adams.

Todd Shapiro, a spokesman for Adams’ reelection campaign, wouldn’t confirm whether Spiro’s still representing him, either. Shapiro did acknowledge the serious deficit the mayor’s facing and told the Daily News he’s “focused on restoring public trust and ensuring that all obligations, including legal expenses, are met in a transparent and ethical manner.”

“He is confident that, with continued dedication and support, he will overcome this hurdle and continue to lead with integrity,” Shapiro added.

Shapiro didn’t say whether that means Adams has any particular fundraising plans for the trust.

The latest filing shows Adams didn’t take in a single new donation in the latest period, which spanned from Jan. 1 through March 31.

It first emerged in October 2024, about a month after the mayor’s indictment, that Adams’ trust was struggling financially as his expenses started outpacing his fundraising. At the time, Vito Pitta, Adams’ compliance attorney, said the trust expected more money to start rolling in “as the mayor’s defense enters a new stage.”

But since then, the trust has received just a paltry $2,200. Most of that, $2,000, was contributed by Tzvi Odzer, a businessman who was sentenced to prison in the mid-2000s for campaign finance fraud charges and pardoned by Trump during the final days of his first White House term.

Pitta didn’t return a request for comment on the latest filing.

Besides the hefty payments to Spiro, the latest filing lists off $20,000 in legal fees paid to Pitta’s firm as well as some smaller banking service expenses.

The revelations about Adams’ debt come after the judge presiding over his case on April 2 approved a motion from the Trump DOJ to drop his indictment, which charged him with taking bribes and illegal campaign cash, mostly from Turkish government operatives, in exchange for political favors.

The judge wrote in an opinion he approved the dismissal because he had no other choice under the law, given the DOJ’s position.

But the judge, Dale Ho, also lamented that the end of the case “smacks” of a political “bargain,” given that Trump’s political appointees let Adams know they expected him to play a larger role in assisting the president’s immigration agenda if his case went away.

Since then, Adams’ administration has signed an executive order to let ICE agents operate again on Rikers Island, a move that is drawing legal challenges.

Adams has denied a quid pro quo with Trump.

Adams has also denied ever committing crimes and was initially expected to stand trial in April later this month on his indictment. Had he done so, he would’ve all but certainly racked up even more legal fees.

Since the dismissal, Adams has dropped out of June’s Democratic mayoral primary and is instead seeking reelection as an independent in November’s general election. Prior to the dismissal, Adams saw low fundraising for his reelection campaign, too.