By Joe Anuta\Politico
NEW YORK — A mysterious $3 million sitting in Mayor Eric Adams’ reelection account is the latest irregularity giving campaign finance officials cause to deny him crucial public matching funds.
The Campaign Finance Board broadened the criteria it used to deny Adams matching funds in a Feb. 18 letter POLITICO obtained through a Freedom of Information Law request. The board nixed Adams’ ask for $4.5 million in taxpayer-funded campaign dollars in December and has renewed its decision monthly.
“The Campaign is not eligible for payment because the difference between the Campaign’s reported receipts and documented receipts is equal to or greater than [10 percent],” the communique said.
The discrepancy was indeed greater: nearly 65 percent.
In its February update, the CFB cited for the first time a significant difference between money in the campaign’s coffers and what it has disclosed in official reports.
As of Dec. 31, the campaign’s bank records showed receipts totaling $7.5 million, according to the board’s latest review of Adams’ campaign paperwork, which POLITICO obtained via a separate records request. Yet the mayor’s team only reported around $4.6 million in contributions to the board — a number that roughly matches figures posted to the CFB’s public website. That left nearly $3 million unaccounted for. READ MORE…
