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Embattled city Comptroller John Liu’s campaign treasury “is turning into a legal-defense fund.”
Liu’s campaign has spent more than $100,000 on lawyers and legal fees so far this year — more than he raised in campaign contributions.
Liu only raised $82,305 from Jan. 1 through March 25.
And the new report shows that Liu spent more than twice what he raised during the period — $162,354.92.
The anemic fund-raising and ballooning legal bills come as Liu and his campaign operation face a federal criminal probe of their fund-raising activities.
Last month, Liu’s ex-treasurer, Jenny Hou, was busted and charged with illegal fund-raising.
And Liu moneyman Oliver Pan was indicted for aiding and abetting a scheme to disguise illegal donations to Liu through straw donors. Pan was nabbed in an FBI sting operation.
Political veterans said growing legal costs shatter Liu’s claim that he has any chance of running for mayor.
“Liu’s campaign fund is turning into a legal-defense fund. The beneficiaries of the campaign dollars are lawyers, which is not what the donors had in mind,” said political consultant Hank Sheinkopf.
“He’s spending more on lawyers than anything else. The donors are going to say, ‘Enough!’ ”
Said political consultant Scott Levenson, “The comptroller’s legal problems continue to distract from his political career. At some point, the comptroller’s contention that his mayoral campaign is healthy becomes a clear work of fiction.”
The filing showed that during the period Liu’s campaign forked over $49,000 to Zuckerman and Spader, the lead firm representing Liu and the campaign in the federal probe, $34,000 to election lawyer Martin Connor, $14,295 to criminal-defense firm Lankler and Carragher and $10,000 to lawyer Sarah Steiner.
Another $9,534 went to the Texas-based firm Scarab Consulting for legal services.
Liu also paid his communications director, George Arzt, $15,000 and his chief political adviser, Chung Seto, $13,000. The campaign also paid $3,075 to Hou.
Liu still had $1.534 million in cash on hand.
He received some donations from labor unions — including $2,500 from the Transport Workers Union, $500 from the New York State Laborers’ PAC and $500 from Local 267 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees.
And Liu is still fund-raising. He was scheduled to hold a donor event at Campanile restaurant this morning.
Liu has confided to his closest supporters that he’s either running for mayor or not at all — ruling out a run for re-election as comptroller.
The troubled pol has maintained his innocence in the straw-donor scandal — insisting he’s personally done nothing illegal, although he accepts responsibility for any wrongdoing by others in the campaign.
The Liu campaign had no comment on the finance report, beyond what was filed.