Mayor Adams’ legal defense trust returned seven of eight contributions from Madison Square Garden kingpin James Dolan’s family business within days of receiving them, new records reveal — a move that put increased strain on the already cash-strapped fund.
The records don’t spell out why the trust didn’t give back all the Dolan donations, which raised ethics concerns earlier this year due to the billionaire MSG owner’s extensive business interests before Adams’ administration.
The trust, which Adams uses to cover his mounting legal bills amid his federal indictment, received four of the seven now-returned Dolan donations on July 10. Fifteen days later, the trust returned all four of those $5,000 donations to Dolan’s adult son, Quentin; father, Charles; and two MSG executives, Gregg Seibert and Donna Coleman, the new records reviewed by the Daily News confirm.
The remaining three donations, all also in the legal max amount of $5,000, came from James Dolan himself on July 26, his other adult son, Ryan Dolan, on June 26, and Irving Azoff, a longtime Dolan business partner, on July 15. Those three were also returned by the trust within days, with the last refund, of James Dolan’s contribution, processed on Aug. 14, the records show.
The records show Adams’ trust did not return a $5,000 donation given on July 15 by one of Dolan’s other adult sons, Aidan, who, like his brothers, is an executive in his father’s MSG Entertainment company.
Adams’ reelection campaign, which is also facing money-related problems, hasn’t returned any of the $16,800 it received from Dolan, his sons, father and business associates around the same time this summer, records show.
Vito Pitta, Adams’ trust and 2025 campaign compliance attorney, didn’t return a request for comment this week and neither did reps for Dolan.
In total, the trust gave back $35,000 in Dolan family and business cash, the records show. With most of the Dolan funds relinquished, Adams’ trust pulled in just $62,500 between July 1 and Sept. 30, the lowest fundraising stretch since the mayor launched the fund in late 2023.
Even with the Dolan money in play, the trust was in the red as of Sept. 30, having spent more than it had raised, most of it to cover the hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees the mayor is racking up each month.
On Sept. 26, Manhattan federal prosecutors indicted Adams on criminal charges alleging he took bribes and illegal campaign cash from Turkish government officials and others in exchange for political favors. Adams, who has pleaded not guilty, is set to stand trial in April, and that will all but certainly mean even heftier legal bills, especially as he recently hired a new lawyer, Alex Spiro, who’s known to charge clients $2,000 per hour.
When the Adams trust’s latest public disclosure first came out in mid-October, the wave of Dolan donations sparked outrage from local lawmakers and government watchdogs who noted the MSG owner’s corporate empire holds various business interests the mayor has sway over, including a permit The Garden depends on to operate.
The updated records reflecting the Dolan contribution refunds weren’t disclosed by the city Conflicts of Interest Board until late October or November and haven’t been previously reported.
Under local law, individuals listed in the city government’s Doing Business database are prohibited from donating to mayoral legal defense trusts, as are the children and spouses of anyone listed in the database.
James Dolan isn’t personally listed in the database, but several of his companies are, including MSG Entertainment Holdings, due to their business dealings with city government.
Adams’ trust must disclose an update on its finances in mid-January. In October, Pitta said the trust expected to start raising more money after Adams’ indictment as his “defense enters a new stage.”