Topline
Justice Department officials asked a court Friday to drop the corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, ending a days-long legal standoff after seven prosecutors quit their jobs & refused to toss out the charges—alleging they were being dropped in exchange for Adams cooperating with President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, second from left, leaves the courthouse in New York, Oct. 2, 2024.
Key Facts
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove and other DOJ officials formally filed a request for Manhattan Judge Dale E. Ho to drop the case against Adams.
The filing said keeping the charges against the mayor could interfere in his reelection campaign and his work with the Trump campaign on immigration enforcement.
Bove signed the document himself after several DOJ prosecutors declined to do so and quit their jobs in protest, including acting U.S. Attorney in Manhattan Danielle Sassoon and five DOJ officials in D.C. and a New York prosecutor assigned to Adams’ case.
In her resignation letter Thursday, Sassoon told President Donald Trump’s Attorney General Pam Bondi she “remain(ed) baffled by the rushed and superficial process by which this decision was reached,” and equated it to a “quid pro quo.”
A day later, in a scathing resignation letter sent to Bove, lead Adams prosecutor Hagan Scotten said Friday, “any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way,” according to a copy obtained by CNN.
Scotten also wrote, “I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion,” adding: “But it was never going to be me.”
In addition to Sassoon and Scotten, the acting head of the DOJ’s Public Integrity Section, John Keller, and three other members of that section resigned, as did the acting head of the Criminal Division, Kevin Driscoll, multiple outlets reported.
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What Was Adams Charged With?
Adams was charged in late September on bribery, wire fraud and campaign finance-related charges. Prosecutors accused him of receiving illegal campaign donations from the Turkish government to his 2021 mayoral campaign, and other illegal donations as far back as 2014 when he was Brooklyn borough president. The indictment alleged an unnamed senior official in the “Turkish diplomatic establishment” facilitated donations to Adams’ campaign and gave him free or discounted Turkish airline flights and other gifts in exchange for Adams pressuring the city’s fire department to approve a high-rise consulate building for Turkey. Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan at the time, said in a release Adams “abused his position” as the city’s highest official, and as borough president, and “put the interests of his benefactors, including a foreign official, above those of his constituents.” Adams pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Why Did Emil Bove Ask For The Charges To Be Dropped?
On Monday, Bove directed the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York to drop the charges, arguing the charges were filed too close to the mayoral primary in New York, and that they limited how cooperative Adams could be with immigration policy changes from Trump’s administration. Bove ordered the charges be dropped without prejudice, meaning they could be brought again in the future.
Why Is Trump Trying To Drop The Eric Adams Charges—and Is It Immigration-Related?
In the memo instructing the charges be dismissed, Bove said the dismissal had nothing to do with the merits of the case or the integrity of the prosecutors, but rather that “the pending prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams' ability to devote full attention and resources to... illegal immigration and violent crime,” Reuters reported. Trump has made immigration reform and mass deportations a key part of the first weeks of his presidency, and the administration has been trying to make an example out of sanctuary cities, or places that have laws in place to limit local police from cooperating with federal immigration agents, by making deportation raids in those cities. Adams has been getting closer to Trump following his election and inauguration, and on Thursday after meeting with Trump’s border czar Tom Homan, Adams announced he would be signing an executive order to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to return to Rikers Island, a famous prison in the Bronx, which hasn’t been allowed since 2015 because of the city’s sanctuary laws.
Why Did Danielle Sassoon Refuse To Drop Eric Adams Charges?
Sassoon, who was Manhattan’s acting U.S. attorney, was the first to resign over Bove’s request the case be thrown out. In her resignation letter to Bondi, Sassoon said the request was “inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts.” She alleged Adams’ lawyers “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed.” Alex Spiro, Adam’s lawyer, told The New York Times there was no quid pro quo and “we offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us.” Bove accepted Sassoon’s resignation on Thursday, saying in a letter obtained by the Times it was accepted because of her “choice to continue pursuing a politically motivated prosecution despite an express instruction to dismiss the case.” Bove also said the attorney’s office under her leadership “has demonstrated itself to be incapable of fairly and impartially reviewing the circumstances of this prosecution,” so he intended to transfer Adams’ prosecution to the Justice Department.
What Has Trump Said About Eric Adams?
Trump said in a press conference Thursday he did not request Adams’ case be dropped and said, “I know nothing about it.” After Trump met with Adams in December, he suggested he may pardon Adams because he was being “treated pretty unfairly,” but he said he didn’t know the details of the case and would need to review it.
Further Reading
DOJ Asks Prosecutors To Dismiss Charges Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams (Forbes)
Seventh prosecutor in Eric Adams case resigns and calls out Trump’s former lawyer in scathing letter (CNN)
