By Victoria Keraj
The Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered prosecutors to dismiss the case against mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.
As previously covered by The Vanguard, Adams was indicted on 5 counts, including bribery and campaign finance offenses. “Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, ha[d] requested the Department of Justice to drop his charges.”
A memo sent on Feb. 10 by acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove cites the case’s interference with the 2025 mayoral election and with Adams’ ability to uphold new immigration policies as reasoning to dismiss the case. Bove also brings up that Adams opposed the Biden Administration’s immigration policies and accuses the prosecutors of unfairly going after Adams.
“Federal prosecutors were instructed to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning it could come up again. However, according to the sources, Bove said nothing could happen until after this year’s mayoral election,” reported ABC.
On Feb. 12, attorney general for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, sent a letter to U.S. attorney general Pam Bondi, stating her refusal to dismiss the case.
In the letter, she states, “Adams’s advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case. Although Mr. Bove disclaimed any intention to exchange leniency in this case for Adams’s assistance in enforcing federal law, that is the nature of the bargain laid bare in Mr. Bove’s memo.”
Rather than dismiss the case, Sassoon resigned on Thursday, Feb. 13 along with the officials who oversaw the Justice Department’s Public Integrity Section, Kevin O. Driscoll and John Keller, according to the New York Times. NYT also reported that “Several hours later, three other lawyers in the unit also resigned, according to people familiar with the developments.”
On Thursday, Adams also met with Border czar Tom Homan. “We are now working on implementing an executive order that will reestablish the ability for ICE agents to operate on Rikers Island — as was the case for 20 years,” he said in a statement.
When asked by WNBC if he would change his party affiliation, Adams reportedly expressed that, “[…] he is remaining as a Democrat and will run in the Democratic primary for mayor.”
An official court document was filed for the dismissal of the case and it remains to be seen how
District Judge Hon. Dale E. Ho will respond.