Overview

• Mayor Eric Adams's legal defense fund raised $732,000 in less than two months to pay for legal expenses related to a federal investigation into his campaign fund-raising and possible illegal donations from the Turkish government.
• Contributors to the defense fund included billionaires such as former NYC mayor Michael Bloomberg, Ukrainian-British oligarch Leonard Blavatnik, real-estate and fertilizer tycoon Alexander Rovt, and cryptocurrency investor Brock Pierce.
• The fund has so far spent $440,000, most of it on WilmerHale, the law firm Adams hired to represent him in the investigation.
• The fund was set up after the FBI searched the home of Brianna Suggs, Adams's chief campaign fund-raiser, as part of a broad public corruption investigation.
• The investigation is examining Adams's campaign funding for his 2021 mayoral race and whether there were any foreign influences or favors, although Adams has not been accused of any wrongdoing.