Mayor Eric Adams encountered a setback in the courtroom on Friday when his $3.4 million campaign finance battle took a hit; a federal judge upheld the New York City Campaign Finance Board's decision to deny these public matching funds for his re-election efforts, reported Gothamist. Despite Adams' initial claims that the denial was unjust due to the dismissal of a criminal indictment against him, United States District Court Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis highlighted failures in the mayor’s campaign to respond to board inquiries and missing a key disclosure deadline as independent grounds for the decision.
While this ruling represents a legal defeat, strategists suggest it may not all be bad news, the rejection of the board's use of the now-dismissed indictment could potentially swing in Adams' favor as the campaign trail heats up—the latest court order strictly requires proper documentation and timely responses for eligibility to receive matching funds, something the Adams campaign believes is now within reach, they told the New York Post. Judge Garaufis condemned the presumptions of guilt against Adams, “The Board’s attempt to shift the burden of proving his innocence to Mayor Adams is inappropriate and goes against the centuries-old American legal principle that presumes the criminal defendant’s innocence until proven guilty."
The Campaign Finance Board's policy to withhold funds based on an indictment was scrutinized as they continued to leverage the dismissed allegations against the mayor. This policy was challenged by Adams's campaign chair Frank Carone, who expressed confidence in the campaign's ability to meet the board's demands and acquire the needed funds for the November 4th general election, "We are grateful for the Court’s thoughtful decision, and knew all along that CFB’s 'reason to know' standard as applied here, was arbitrary and unconstitutional," Carone said, according to the New York Post.
The next step for the Adams campaign hinges on a critical meeting, the New York City Campaign Finance Board is expected to convene on July 15, where they will deliberate and potentially vote on the fate of Adams' public matching funds.
