After New York City Mayor Eric Adams was indicted on federal criminal charges in September, the man soon embraced Donald Trump in an overt attempt to get the president to overturn his case. As Manhattan federal prosecutors readied to bring the bombshell indictment charging the mayor with destroying evidence and instructing people to lie to the FBI, Trump’s Justice Department issued an order to drop the case, a letter obtained by The New York Times reveals.
Written by U.S. Attorney Danielle R. Sassoon, who was appointed by Trump, and addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi, the letter states that Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove’s order to dismiss the case on Monday was “inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts.”
In Bove’s memo, the acting deputy attorney general ordered Adams’ case to be dropped so the mayor could “devote [his] full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated under the policies of the prior administration.”
Rather than obey the order, Sassoon resigned from her post today. “I have always considered it my obligation to pursue justice impartially, without favor to the wealthy or those who occupy important public office, or harsher treatment for the less powerful,” she said. “I therefore deem it necessary to the faithful discharge of my duties to raise the concerns expressed in this letter with you and to request an opportunity to meet to discuss them further.”
Sassoon wrote that she recently attended a meeting with her staff, Bove, and lawyers for Adams. There, she said, Adams’ legal team “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed.”
She criticized the “rushed and superficial process” that led to Bove’s order, and noted her office had been “prepared to seek a superseding indictment” against the New York mayor that “would add an obstruction conspiracy count based on evidence that Adams destroyed and instructed others to destroy evidence and provide false information to the FBI, and that would add further factual allegations regarding his participation in a fraudulent straw donor scheme.”
According to the Times, the Justice Department attempted to move the case to Washington’s public integrity section, but the two men who led the unit overseeing corruption cases also resigned.
Last year, authorities searched the home of the mayor’s chief fundraiser and seized Adams’ electronic devices in connection to an investigation into allegations that the mayor’s 2021 campaign laundered illegal donations from foreign governments. The following fall, federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York indicted the mayor on bribery, wire fraud, and conspiracy charges. Adams denied the charges and claimed they are politically motivated.
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