A Brooklyn Democrat who infamously chomped on a cop’s arm at a homeless shelter protest — and then had protesters linked to Communist China rally in her support — has created a legal defense fund to pay her lawyers, The Post has learned.
Councilwoman Susan Zhuang (D-Brooklyn) filed papers with the city Conflicts of Interest Board confirming she created a legal defense trust, a controversial mechanism allowing her to accept donations in a manner similar to political campaigns — to pay off legal fees.
Zhuang said funds received will be used to cover her legal expenses from the myriad criminal charges she’s facing, including assault and resisting arrest, after she allegedly sank her teeth into NYPD Deputy Chief Frank DiGiacomo’s arm during a July 17 protest against a proposed Bensonhurst shelter.
The defense fund tactic was used by Mayor Eric Adams last year to defray attorney fees over federal investigations into his 2021 mayoral campaign, but is otherwise rare in NYC.
It’s mind-boggling that Zhuang is raising money to defend herself after being caught on camera sinking her teeth into the officer, one city councilmember said.
“Susan must be raising cash for a separate legal defense fund because she knows she’s guilty,” the source quipped. “But I’m not sure what kind of person would donate to such a cause.”
Hundreds rallied for Zhuang in a July 28 march, where the event flier listed as the contact a phone number for John Chan, who runs a Chinese Communist Party-linked nonprofit, Asian American Community Empowerment.
At the time, Zhuang attempted to distance herself from Chan’s group and the July 28 rally’s organizers. WeChat messages previously obtained by The Post show the councilwoman advised protesters how to act at the demonstration and what signs to carry.
In November, Chan led an effort to drown out the cries of protesters in San Francisco awaiting the arrival of Xi Jinping who claimed their relatives had been harmed by the Chinese government, The San Francisco Standard reported.
He also reportedly sponsored a small group of state Assembly Republicans to take a trip to China to meet CCP leaders a month later.
Zhuang confirmed to The Post that she took a “family trip” to China last month, but adamantly denied what she called “rumors being spread by [her] political opponents” that Chan accompanied her on the excursion.
When asked if he met up with Zhuang in China, Chan said “I don’t know” and hung up on a reporter.
Aiming Feng, one of three trustees for Zhuang’s defense fund, also insisted the councilwoman’s China excursion was simply a “family trip.”
A recent online petition addressed to Mayor Adams, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams and Councilwoman Sandra Ung, the ethics committee chair, called for them to censure Zhuang.
“I implore you to take immediate action to hold Councilwoman Zhuang accountable,” read the petition, which garnered 123 signatures as of Friday.
Besides Adams and Zhuang, former Mayor Bill de Blasio also expressed interest in creating a legal defense trust to help pay off a $300,000 lawyer tab in connection to a federal probe into his own political fundraising.
However, de Blasio never set one up – even after the City Council in 2019 passed legislation creating the new fundraising mechanism.
