Eric Adams: Justice Department official urges quick dismissal of criminal case against New York City mayor

At an extraordinary hearing Wednesday, the Justice Department’s second-in-command demanded that a judge dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and the leader of the nation’s largest city — his liberty and political future at stake — declared: “I have not committed a crime.”

After scrutinising the request for more than an hour, Manhattan federal Judge Dale E. Ho declined to rule immediately, saying he wanted to carefully review the “unusual situation.” But, acknowledging the vast political and legal implications, which include Mayor Adams’ pending reelection campaign and looming April 21 trial date, he indicated he’d make a decision soon.

“I’m not going to shoot from the hip right here on the bench,” said Judge Ho, letting out a heavy sigh as he drew the 80-minute proceeding to a close. But, he noted, “it is not in anyone’s interest for this to drag on.”

The Justice Department’s request — lodged by officials in Washington over the objections of federal prosecutors in Manhattan — was predicated on arguments that the case was impeding Cr Adams’ ability to govern and costing the Trump administration his cooperation in its ongoing immigration crackdown.

Acting Deputy US Attorney General Emil Bove, alone at the prosecution table, told Judge Ho that the Justice Department was exercising “prosecutorial discretion” and that granting the request was the judge’s only option. Cr Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, said no appeals court has ever sided with a judge who rejected an unopposed motion to dismiss a criminal case.

The mayor appeared in high spirits, a shift from past appearances. Strolling slowly into the courtroom, he embraced Black clergy members sitting in the front row.

Mr Bove urged Judge Ho to ignore outside voices — including those of prosecutors who resigned in protest rather that go along with his demand to drop the case. Mr Bove said the judge should reject such claims that there was a “quid pro quo” between Cr Adams and the Justice Department.

“I don’t concede and I don’t think it’s correct that even if there was a quid pro quo there would be any issue with this motion,” Mr Bove added.

Mr Adams, questioned under oath by Judge Ho, testified there was no “other agreement” between himself and the government. Judge Ho also questioned Cr Adams about a provision in the Justice Department’s dismissal motion that would allow prosecutors to revive charges against him at a later date.

“I have not committed a crime,” Cr Adams said. “I’m not afraid of that.”

Judge Ho scheduled the hearing after three Trump administration lawyers, including Mr Bove, made the dismissal request Friday. Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor resigned after she refused an order to seek dismissal.

Cr Adams pleaded not guilty last September to charges he accepted more than $US100,000 ($160,000) in illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks from a Turkish official and business leaders seeking to buy Mr Adams’ influence while he was Brooklyn borough president. He faces multiple challengers in the Democratic primary in June.

Mr Bove said the request to drop the corruption charges against the mayor resulted from “a straightforward exercise in prosecutorial discretion guided” by President Donald Trump’s executive order on weaponisation of the justice system and Attorney General Pam Bondi’s memorandum outlining the same.

Mr Bove said he believed the request to drop charges, when tied to Mr Trump’s order and Ms Bondi’s conclusions, made it “virtually unreviewable in this courtroom.”

Mr Bove said he also believed “the continuation of this prosecution is interfering with both national security and immigration enforcement initiatives being carried out by the executive branch.”

Closely watching the judicial proceedings is Democratic Governor Kathy Hochul, who is considering whether to remove Cr Adams from office amid concerns that he reached a deal to have the case dropped in exchange for the mayor’s political fealty to Mr Trump.

Early last week, Mr Bove told prosecutors in New York to drop the charges because the prosecution “has unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime.” Mr Bove said charges could be reinstated after November’s mayoral election.

Two days later, then-interim US Attorney Danielle Sassoon told Ms Bondi in a letter that dismissing the charges in return for Cr Adams’ assistance in enforcing federal immigration laws would betray Ms Bondi’s own words that she “will not tolerate abuses of the criminal justice process, coercive behavior, or other forms of misconduct.”

“Dismissal of the indictment for no other reason than to influence Adams’s mayoral decision-making would be all three,” said MS Sassoon, a Republican. She said it amounted to a “quid pro quo” deal and disclosed that prosecutors were about to bring additional obstruction of justice charges against Cr Adams.

Mr Bove, in accepting Ms Sassoon’s resignation, accused her of “pursuing a politically motivated prosecution despite an express instruction to dismiss the case.” He informed her that two other prosecutors assigned to the case were being suspended with pay and that an investigation would determine if they would keep their jobs.

One prosecutor, Hagan Scotten, quit the following day, writing in a resignation letter that he supported Ms Sassoon’s actions. Mr Scotten told Mr Bove that it would take a “fool” or a “coward” to meet Mr Bove’s demand to drop the charges, “but it was never going to be me.”

In all, seven prosecutors, including five high-ranking prosecutors at the Justice Department, had resigned by Friday.

Shortly before Wednesday’s hearing, Ms Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, took to social media to defend the department’s dismissal request, citing an argument over a point of law 10 days after Mr Bove said a decision to drop charges was reached “without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based.”

In a series of posts on X, Mr Mizelle argued that in the Adams case, prosecutors’ “expansive reading” of the public corruption law was unlikely to fare well before the US Supreme Court, which has overturned the convictions of high-profile, white-collar defendants.

“The case against Mayor Adams was just one in a long history of past DOJ actions that represent grave errors of judgement,” Mr Mizelle wrote.

Ms Sassoon and her colleagues have found support for their stand from a small army of former prosecutors.

On Friday, seven former US attorneys in Manhattan, including James Comey, Geoffrey S. Berman and Mary Jo White, issued a statement lauding Sassoon’s “commitment to integrity and the rule of law.”

On Monday, three former US attorneys from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut submitted papers to Judge Ho suggesting that he appoint a special prosecutor if he finds the Justice Department acted improperly or that he order all evidence be made available to state and local prosecutors.

A former Watergate prosecutor filed papers separately, telling the judge to reject the government’s request and consider assigning a special counsel to explore the legal issues and ultimately consider appointing an independent special prosecutor to try the case.