MANHATTAN — Mayor Bill de Blasio may need a lot of donors to pay his legal bills.
The city’s Conflict of Interest Board said Wednesday that most gifts to legal defense funds should be restricted to a maximum of $49.99 per donor to adhere to the city charter. The mayor had sought to collect money to help pay legal expenses for lawyers who have been working for him during the past year of fundraising probes into his administration.
The COIB's advisory opinion would mean the mayor and other public servants could not accept a “valuable gift” of $50 or more per 12-month period from any person or firm with business before the city — or from any constituent. The mayor would also be banned from accepting contributions from subordinates.
Public officials would still be able to raise any amount they want from family members or close personal friends who don’t have business before the city.
State and federal prosecutors announced on March 16 that they would not seek charges against the mayor, though Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance wrote to the New York State Board of Elections that the fundraising appears to have violated “the intent and spirit of the laws."
Both federal and local prosecutors looked into fundraising from de Blasio’s 2013 election campaign and his efforts to help the Democrats retake the State Senate in 2014.
Investigators were also probing the mayor’s Campaign for One New York for collecting millions of dollars without reporting who was making donations.
The mayor said his legal defense fund was normal and that other such funds have been going on for "decades and decades."
“I think they’re a fair and appropriate tool," de Blasio said at an unrelated press conference Wednesday, adding that he strongly disagreed with the COIB ruling.
"We’ll have more dialogue with [the COIB], but they clearly indicated that there is a way to resolve the issue if need be in a legislative fashion, so that’s an option on the table.”
