Brigid Bergin: Janae, I want to start with a little political trivia.

Janae Pierre: Oh, my God, Brigid. I actually hate trivia. What's up?

Brigid Bergin: Okay, this time four years ago, guess which mayoral candidate was leading in the polls?

Janae Pierre: Wasn't it Eric Adams?

Brigid Bergin: No.

Janae Pierre: Oh.

Brigid Bergin: It was Andrew Yang.

Andrew Yang: We'll reopen intelligently to revive our incredible culture. Maybe we can even see save the Knicks.

Brigid Bergin: When he jumped into the mayor's race four years ago, we were deep in the pandemic. I remember I was sitting in my home office. It was cold, it was late at night. I was watching his launch video, and it showed a picture of him out campaigning with a mask on.

Andrew Yang: Thank you.

Brigid Bergin: It said, Yang for Mayor.

Andrew Yang: Let's fight for a future in New York City that we can all be proud of. Paid for by Yang for New York.

Brigid Bergin: Remember, we were all wearing masks back then.

Janae Pierre: Yes. Campaigning during the pandemic was a crazy time.

Brigid Bergin: That's right. When he jumped in, he really sucked all the oxygen out of the mayor's race. It suddenly raised the stakes for all the candidates, and notably for Eric Adams, because they were competing for some of those same moderate Democratic voters.

Janae Pierre: Andrew Yang was fresh off of that 2020 presidential run. He really had some name recognition.

Brigid Bergin: Yes, exactly. Obviously, that name recognition, that celebrity, having some personal wealth, that can really skew the odds in a candidate' favor just like this year, it was really crowded in 2021, and Eric Adams, he's Brooklyn Borough president. He is not a millionaire.

Janae Pierre: Yes. In fact, he ran as the city's blue-collar candidate.

Brigid Bergin: That's right. The irony of what I'm about to tell you, Janae, is the very system he used to beat a guy like Yang is also what led to his undoing. Now, it's created a test for that system itself.

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Janae Pierre: From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Janae Pierre. Welcome back to our weekly series looking into the turmoil that's consumed the Adams administration and the various political forces at play. Last week, we traveled to Southeast Queensland, one of the mayor's key strongholds, to see how voters are processing the chaotic political moment. This week, we're turning our attention to his campaign, how he raised big money, why prosecutors say he broke the rules, and now that those charges have been dropped, whether he might be able to get that money in the future.

Mayor Adams: I maxed out. I was finished raising money. I was done. We're going to do everything that's possible to fight for our matching funds.

Janae Pierre: Brigid Bergin is a senior reporter on WNYC's politics team. Before we dive in here, Brigid, in that clip that we just heard, the mayor mentioned, matching funds. What's that all about?

Brigid Bergin: Candidates running for city offices, like mayor, are eligible for money for their campaigns through a program run by the New York City Campaign Finance Board. The board itself and this matching funds program date back 30 years ago, when another New York City mayor was facing his own set of scandals.

Mayor Ed Koch: There's corruption. There's been corruption, as I've said so many occasions, since Adam and Eve and the two gorillas who came before them. Some of you may be corrupt.

Janae Pierre: I recognize that voice. That's Mayor Ed Koch. Connect that to the city's campaign finance program.

Brigid Bergin: Janae, there was a lot of drama that engulfed the Koch administration. It hits this crescendo in 1986 with political allies caught up in bribery and extortion scandals.

Mayor Ed Koch: I found that there were people in government, people who I've worked with over the years, who were corrupt, who violated their oaths of office. Some of them have been convicted after trial. One of them, Donald Manes, committed suicide. Those trauma, those tragedies for government, for the individuals involved, would be my greatest pain or disappointment.

Janae Pierre: Adams is the first modern sitting mayor to be indicted. Koch was never personally implicated.

Brigid Bergin: Right. There's still lots of fallout throughout city government. To restore some credibility, Koch pushed the Campaign Finance Act, which established the New York City Campaign Finance Board. The board set new rules for campaigns limiting the size of campaign donations.

Janae Pierre: Then came the public matching funds. What's the idea behind that?

Brigid Bergin: The program has really evolved over time. By 2021, for participating candidates, contributions up to $250 could be matched 8 to 1. Your $10 contribution is worth $90. Your $250 contribution is worth $2,250.

Janae Pierre: Yes, slow it down, BB, we're sounding like a WNYC pledge drive here.

Brigid Bergin: I wish someone would match our donations into one, because that's big money. Adams spent $20 million on his 2021 campaign, and about half of that was for matching funds.

Janae Pierre: Now, he ran against Curtis Sliwa in the general election, and as I recall, that race was never expected to be close.

Brigid Bergin: No, Janae, it never really was. The Adams campaign still kind of stepped on the gas when it came to fundraising after the primary. When the Campaign Finance Board asked for specific information, the Adams campaign just ignored them. The thing is, when you opt into this program, you're agreeing to a pretty rigorous set of rules.

Janae Pierre: Adams didn't follow those rules?

Brigid Bergin: According to former US attorney Damian Williams, he broke them every which way.

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Janae Pierre: Up next, federal prosecutors accused the mayor of trading his political influence for travel perks and campaign cash. That's after the break.

Damian Williams: Today, we are announcing campaign finance bribery and conspiracy charges against Eric Adams, the Mayor of New York City. As the indictment alleges, Mayor Adams engaged in a long running conspiracy in which he solicited and knowingly accepted illegal campaign contributions from foreign donors and corporations.

Brigid Bergin: Janae, there were five charges in that indictment Damian Williams unveiled last September.

Damian Williams: As we allege, Mayor Adams took these contributions even though he knew they were illegal. Even though he knew these contributions were attempts by a Turkish government official and Turkish businessman to buy influence with him.

Brigid Bergin: The prosecutors are saying the mayor took high end travel perks and those illegal campaign contributions in exchange for official acts. Some of those illegal campaign contributions were also flagged by the Campaign Finance Board.

Janae Pierre: To be clear here, Brigid, those charges were recently dropped.

Brigid Bergin: The mayor's always said he never did anything wrong.

Janae Pierre: Right. However, the board still has its own open issues.

Brigid Bergin: Yes, the Campaign Finance Board regularly reviews the filings from candidates. They want to make sure taxpayer dollars, our money, is going to candidates who are dotting all their I's and crossing all their T's.

Janae Pierre: I'm guessing some of that was missing from the Adams campaign.

Brigid Bergin: Right. Let me share some numbers that illustrate that. In 2021, Adams spent nearly $20 million on his campaign. About half of that, $10 million, was from matching funds. This past summer, when the board did a preliminary audit, looking at all the documentation the campaign had filed, there was a $2.3 million gap in the campaign records. This was all before the mayor was indicted and we knew what prosecutors were looking at.

After the indictment, his campaign resolved some of the open issues, mostly a bunch of payroll stubs. Because of his potential trial, they didn't resolve all of them. There was still so much that appeared to violate the program's rules. For example, here are some notes that a batch of donors to the Adams campaign wrote along with their donations. "My friend is paying for me." "I used my parents credit card." "Paying for someone else." Janae, you're not supposed to do that.

Janae Pierre: All right, Brigid, that's a lot of details about the mayor's campaign finances from last cycle. This time, he isn't getting any of that money, right?

Brigid Bergin: Yes. Janae, at the moment, the mayor isn't getting any public funds for his re-election campaign.

Janae Pierre: The board's reason for disqualifying him was his corruption case?

Brigid Bergin: It was definitely a big motivator. When the Campaign Finance Board announced its decision to withhold matching funds from the mayor back in December, it was after the indictment.

Speaker 7: After thoroughly reviewing all available information, including the details of the indictment of Mayor Adams, the board has determined that there is reason to believe the Adams campaign has engaged in conduct detrimental to the matching funds program in violation of law, including the Campaign Finance Act and board rules.

Brigid Bergin: The board's pointing to allegations in the indictment, but that wasn't their only reason.

Speaker 7: His campaign also failed to provide documents and information requested by the board. Accordingly, Mayor Adams campaign for re-election has failed to demonstrate eligibility for public funds payment at this time.

Janae Pierre: Okay, so again, the federal charges are gone, but what does that mean for the board? Has anything like this happened before?

Brigid Bergin: Janae, the only comparable situation is from back in 2013. City Comptroller John Liu was running for mayor, and two of his campaign associates were charged and found guilty in connection with a straw donor scheme.

Janae Pierre: A straw donor scheme is where the person whose name is on the donation isn't actually the person giving the money.

Brigid Bergin: Exactly. Lou was never charged himself, but those guilty verdicts prompted the board to withhold matching funds from his campaign. At the time, Lou's campaign attorney said the move amounted to the death penalty for his campaign. Lou ended up suing the board over the decision and lost on all counts except a technicality.

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Janae Pierre: This situation with Adams is another high stakes reputational risk for the program.

Brigid Bergin: Yes, the board has already come under scrutiny for all the money they gave Adams for the last campaign, but they continue to sift through his 2021 and 2025 filings, and they've actually been finding more reasons why he shouldn't get matching funds. Like major errors in what the campaign says it raised and what it's actually documented. Then there's spending on airfare, restaurants, even a Texas jeweler that's raising red flags.

Janae Pierre: What's next for Adams and his campaign?

Brigid Bergin: His campaign says all options are on the table. They've hinted at the prospect of a lawsuit if they don't get matching funds, but so far, there's no evidence they formally appealed the board's decision to withhold money in writing, which the board requires.

Janae Pierre: Brigid, I'm wondering, is there a scenario where Mayor Adams could right all his wrongs and still score some campaign cash?

Brigid Bergin: I mean, if he can come up with explanations for all the different violations he's accused of, perhaps there's a way he could be eligible for matching funds. Not to sound hyperbolic, but this case really does go beyond Adams. There are big implications for the future of democracy in New York City.

Janae Pierre: Tell me more about that.

Brigid Bergin: Well, the Campaign Finance Board is all about leveling the playing field. It's supposed to make it so anybody can run. You don't have to be independently wealthy, connected to big donors. You don't have to come out of a party machine. You don't have to be an incumbent. It's also about deterring corruption. You're supposed to follow the rules.

Janae Pierre: Yes. Now if Adams' attorneys for his campaign fight to get this money, it seems like a major test for the program.

Brigid Bergin: It really is. For the Campaign Finance Board, this thing that's supposed to be an equalizing force, Adams has been accused of violating its rules to an unprecedented degree.

Janae Pierre: He's testing its integrity and its teeth.

Brigid Bergin: Yes. In fact, not getting matching funds for his current re-election campaign could actually be the least of his problems. Even though the feds dropped charges connected to his 2021 campaign, there are still all these unresolved issues with the Campaign Finance Board.

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Brigid Bergin: Broadly speaking, there are three scenarios here. Let's call them the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Janae Pierre: Okay.

Brigid Bergin: Good, he gets matching funds, goes on to win re-election, everything's fine. This is what the mayor and his lawyers are trying for now.

Mayor Adams: We believe we should not have lost our matching funds, and we're going to do everything possible to fight for them.

Janae Pierre: What's bad?

Brigid Bergin: The bad is he gets slapped with fines and essentially closes out the tab from 2021, but that's the end of it.

Janae Pierre: Yes. What about the ugly?

Brigid Bergin: Well, the ugly. The ugly's real ugly. The board permanently bars him from the program, orders him to repay the $10 million in matching funds he got last time, and he loses re-election.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Brigid Bergin. Got to shout out the folks that made this episode possible. Sean Bowditch, Stephen Brown, Brigid Bergin, Audrey Cooper, Stephanie Clary, Maia Hibbett, Owen Kaplan, Liora Noam Kravitz, Jared Marcelle, and Wayne Shulmister. I'm Janae Pierre. This is NYC Now. Next week, how the Trump administration's order to drop Mayor Adams corruption case led a group of federal prosecutors to revolution.

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