Susan Zhuang, the Brooklyn Council member charged with biting a cop during a demonstration against a homeless shelter, has received no donations to the defense fund created to pay her legal fees for the case, her lawyer confirmed Wednesday.
Zhuang’s first disclosure, released late Tuesday, revealed she has received no donations and made no expenditures. Zhuang’s attorney, Jerry Goldfeder, confirmed the trust received no donations of any value and incurred no costs in the most recent reporting window, from July 1 through Sept. 30.
The first-term conservative Democrat incorporated her fund on July 30, days after she was busted for allegedly biting an NYPD chief in the arm and drawing blood during an anti-homeless shelter protest in Bensonhurst in the early morning hours of July 17.
Zhuang has pleaded not guilty to charges of felony assault and other criminal counts for the alleged attack.
Goldfeder said Zhuang, in part, didn’t raise any funds in the latest reporting period because she didn’t get sign-off from the city Conflicts of Interest Board to launch it until late September. COIB said it didn’t receive Zhuang’s required documents for the trust to be established until Sept. 3.
Goldfeder said Zhuang has since started fundraising for the trust.
In contrast to Zhuang, Mayor Adams received the first donation to his defense trust on Nov. 19, 2023 — just four days after it was incorporated. Adams launched the trust to cover legal tied to the federal investigation that resulted in his indictment last month on criminal charges alleging he took bribes from Turkish government operatives in exchange for political favors. He has pleaded not guilty.
Although her defense trust hasn’t reported any disbursements or donations, her 2025 campaign has reported spending $25,000 on services from Actum, a consulting firm that has done crisis communications for her related to the incident where she allegedly chomped on the cop’s arm.
Goldfeder characterized Actum’s work as public relations “related to Susan’s campaign.”
“Trust monies are used only to pay legal fees,” he said.
Actum declined to comment.
The City Council opened an ethics probe into Zhuang following the biting incident, although that inquiry is on pause until her criminal case is resolved, spokeswoman Shirley Limongi said.