The Justice Department is facing internal upheaval after top officials moved to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The decision, which led to multiple resignations from federal prosecutors, has drawn intense scrutiny, particularly given its stated rationale: ensuring Adams is free to assist the Trump administration with mass deportations.
On Friday, Emil Bove III, a senior Justice Department official, formally requested the dismissal of the bribery, fraud, and illegal foreign campaign donation charges against Adams. The request came after Danielle R. Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan, refused to comply and resigned. At least six other prosecutors in New York and Washington followed suit.
Bove, who had originally directed federal prosecutors to drop the case, ended up signing the motion himself, along with two Washington-based colleagues, Edward Sullivan and Antoinette T. Bacon. While the filing emphasized that the move was not based on the legal merits of the case, it cited Adams’s potential role in helping implement the administration’s immigration enforcement agenda.
The justification for the dismissal is highly unusual, as criminal cases are typically evaluated based on legal and evidentiary grounds rather than political considerations. The extraordinary nature of the decision was further underscored by the difficulty Bove faced in finding prosecutors willing to attach their names to the request.
Judicial Scrutiny Looms
The case now rests with Judge Dale E. Ho, who will decide whether to approve the dismissal. While judges rarely reject such requests, legal experts note that this situation is anything but typical.
Mayor Adams, who was indicted last year on five counts, including bribery and fraud, pleaded not guilty and was set to go to trial in April. Prosecutors had also been preparing to add a charge accusing him of destroying evidence, according to Sassoon’s letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this week.
Alex Spiro, Adams’s attorney, dismissed those claims, stating that if prosecutors had proof of evidence destruction, they would have already filed additional charges. “They continually threatened to do so, but never did,” Spiro said.
A Wave of Resignations
The Justice Department’s decision sparked an exodus of federal prosecutors, who objected to what they viewed as a political intervention in the legal process.
Sassoon, 38, made her stance clear in a letter to Bondi, calling the order to drop the charges a “quid pro quo” designed to secure Adams’s cooperation with Trump’s immigration agenda.
“I cannot agree to seek a dismissal driven by improper considerations,” she wrote.
Her resignation was followed by that of lead prosecutor Hagan Scotten, who issued a scathing statement condemning the move.
“Any federal prosecutor knows that our laws and traditions do not allow using prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials,” Scotten wrote. “If no lawyer within earshot of the president is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.”
Three other prosecutors—Celia V. Cohen, Andrew Rohrbach, and Derek Wikstrom—also withdrew from the case.
Political Implications and Fallout
Ordinarily, a U.S. attorney would be responsible for requesting a case’s dismissal, but Sassoon refused to comply, leading to her resignation. In her departure letter, she strongly defended the evidence against Adams, dismissing his claims that the prosecution was politically motivated.
Manhattan prosecutors had been waiting to see how Sassoon would handle the Justice Department’s directive, with many traveling to Washington in recent weeks for tense discussions with senior officials.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration has been reshuffling leadership in the Southern District of New York. Last month, it elevated Sassoon to her position while awaiting Senate confirmation for Jay Clayton, Trump’s nominee to permanently lead the office.
Bove, in his letter accepting Sassoon’s resignation, criticized her handling of the case and accused her of insubordination. He also announced that prosecutors involved in the case would be placed on administrative leave and face an internal investigation.
Matthew Podolsky, Sassoon’s former deputy, has now been named acting U.S. attorney.
Adams’s Political Future
The case against Adams was originally brought under the Biden administration, led by then-U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. Adams, a Democrat, has claimed he was targeted for his criticism of the Biden administration’s handling of the migrant crisis—an assertion the Southern District has firmly denied, pointing out that the investigation began well before those remarks.
Despite his Democratic affiliation, Adams has increasingly aligned himself with Trump on certain policy issues, even attending Trump’s inauguration and visiting him near his Mar-a-Lago residence. Trump has openly criticized the prosecution and previously floated the possibility of pardoning Adams, calling the case “unfair.”
Following Sassoon’s resignation, Adams announced that he would allow federal immigration authorities access to the Rikers Island jail complex—a move that has only fueled speculation about a potential political arrangement.
As the legal battle shifts to Judge Ho’s courtroom, the Justice Department’s turmoil underscores the unprecedented nature of the case. Whether the judge will sign off on the dismissal or challenge the administration’s rationale remains to be seen.