Justice Department moves to dismiss Eric Adams case after extraordinary internal revolt
The Justice Department on Friday moved to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The Justice Department on Friday moved to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, the latest move in a legal saga that has led to the resignations of at least seven federal prosecutors and plunged the department into crisis.
The filing does not immediately end the high-profile case. A federal judge must approve the decision to drop the charges.
The extraordinary mutiny from career Justice Department prosecutors was set in motion on Monday when acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove ordered Danielle R. Sassoon, then the top prosecutor in Manhattan, to dismiss the charges. Bove argued in part that the case was interfering with Adams’ ability to help the administration tackle illegal immigration.
Mayor Eric Adams at City Hall in New York on Jan. 21.Alejandra Villa Loarca / Newsday RM via Getty Images fileSassoon, who was the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned Thursday after sending off a sharply worded memo to Attorney General Pam Bondi. Sassoon wrote that she believed Adams had “committed the crimes with which he was charged” and that she was extremely troubled by what had been discussed at a Jan. 31 meeting with Bove and Adams’ lawyers.
“Adams’s attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed,” wrote Sassoon, a conservative who clerked for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.
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