Federal prosecutors drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams
Federal prosecutors dropped corruption charges Friday against New York City Mayor Eric Adams after a Justice Department directive questioned the political timing of the case and said it hindered President Donald Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.
The dismissal closed the first criminal case in history against a sitting New York City mayor and set off a flood of resignations among prosecutors who refused to drop the charges. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had directed the acting U.S. attorney in New York, Danielle Sassoon, to drop the charges because of potential politics behind the case rather than a lack of evidence.
But Sassoon and at least six other prosecutors quit rather than drop the case. Bove, Antoinette Bacon, a supervisory official in the Justice Department's criminal division, and Ed Sullivan, a career prosecutor, signed the court filing asking to dismiss the charges. U.S. District Judge Dale Ho must rule on accepting the motion.
Adams, 64, had been indicted in September on five charges of fraud, bribery and soliciting campaign contributions from foreigners. He was accused of accepting luxury travel from Turkish officials and political contributions from foreigners in exchange for taking actions to benefit Turkey.
But Adams, a former police captain, pleaded not guilty and strongly protested what he called "sensational" and "false charges."
“As I said from the outset, I never broke the law and I never will. I never put any personal benefit above my solemn responsibility as your mayor," Adams said in a video statement Tuesday. “I absolutely never traded my power as an elected official for personal benefit.”
What charges did Adams face?
The 57-page indictment accused Adams of corrupt acts going back a decade and said he was a willing agent for the Turkish government, trading influence for illegal campaign funds and free trips around the world.
Adams bilked the city's public campaign finance program and received $100,000 in free travel to France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary, and Turkey, according to the indictment.
But Alex Spiro, Adams' defense lawyer, said at a news conference after the charges were announced that Adams' travel on Turkish Airlines came while he was Brooklyn borough president − years before he became mayor − and without any demand for any official act in exchange.
As mayor-elect in September 2021, Adams was charged with pressuring the city Fire Department to approve the opening of a Turkish consular building without a fire inspection. But Spiro argued Adams didn't pressure the Fire Department and said airline officials would have had to know he was going to become mayor years after providing travel enhancements.
“It defies all logic, it defies common sense and it isn’t true," Spiro said of the case.
Justice Department memo directed prosecutors to drop charges
Bove said in a memo Monday the decision had nothing to do with the merits of the case. But the September indictment interfered with Adams’ mayoral campaign and distracted him from immigration enforcement.
Bove, a former criminal lawyer for Trump, said the department reached the conclusion "without assessing the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based. But Bove said "the timing of the charges" have "threatened the integrity of the proceedings."
"The pending prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams' ability to devote full attention and resources to... illegal immigration and violent crime," Bove wrote.
Trump has made immigration enforcement a top priority for his administration. He has also decried the “weaponization” of federal prosecutions of political candidates including himself.
Bove suggested in his memo that Adams appeared to be prosecuted for political reasons.
"It cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior Administration's immigration policies before the charges were filed," Bove wrote.
Sassoon, a former clerk to the late conservative Supreme Court Justice Antoni Scalia, voiced concerns in her resignation letter that dismissing the charges wouldn't have been faithful to discharging the duties of her office.
"Because the law does not support a dismissal, and because I am confident that Adams has committed the crimes with which he is charged, I cannot agree to seek a dismissal driven by improper considerations," Sassoon wrote.
Chad Mizelle, the department's chief of staff, issued a statement Friday said prosecutors who left have no place at the department.
“The decision to dismiss the indictment of Eric Adams is yet another indication that this DOJ will return to its core function of prosecuting dangerous criminals, not pursuing politically motivated witch hunts," Mizelle said. "The fact that those who indicted and prosecuted the case refused to follow a direct command is further proof of the disordered and ulterior motives of the prosecutors. Such individuals have no place at DOJ.”
Contributing: Reuters