The New York Times reports that the Department of Justice has directed prosecutors with the Southern District of New York to drop the federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams filed last September. According to sources that spoke with the paper, Emil Bove, currently the DOJ’s acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General, wrote a letter to SDNY prosecutors in New York telling them that they are “directed to dismiss” the charges against Adams. Adams was charged with taking illegal campaign contributions from foreign entities and using his office, both as Brooklyn borough president and then as mayor, to push for policies favorable to those entities. These include interests from a number of countries, including Turkey and China.
The DOJ’s directive raises questions of its supposed independence from the executive branch, amidst a confluence of interests between Trump, the DOJ, and Mayor Adams. New York’s mayor is a member of the Democratic party, but has not shared his party’s opposition to Trump on a number of issues, having expressed support for Trump’s hard-line border czar, Tom Homan, saying that they both share “the same goals” on immigration, and lauding Elon Musk, saying that he’s “happy” about his presence in government back in November. Less than a week before Trump’s inauguration, Adams also made an unscheduled visit to Trump’s West Palm Beach, Florida golf club for a private discussion with the president-elect, and cleared his public schedule at the last minute in order to attend his inauguration a few days later, opting out of traditional events such as that honoring Martin Luther King. Local news outlet THE CITY reports that Adams was telling top leaders in his administration in a meeting on Monday that there should be no criticism against Trump. Emil Bove was Trump’s personal attorney for his criminal trial in the hush-money case last year before being appointed to the DOJ.
Danielle R. Sassoon, the interim SDNY prosecutor, has so far declined to comment. There is no motion to dismiss the case yet, which must be filed in court and reviewed by a judge overseeing the case. SDNY has a reputation for independence and being exceptionally aggressive in pursuing criminals, earning the moniker of the “Sovereign District of New York.” Bove’s directive to Sassoon’s office comes as the case against Adams appeared to be picking up steam. In the first week of January, prosecutors announced that they had uncovered even more crimes in the course of their investigation beyond the charges filed in September, and that a superseding indictment was possible. Other defendants charged in connection with Adams – like former aide Mohamed Bahi and Turkish-American businessman Erden Arkan – had already pleaded guilty on charges related to campaign finance, leaving open the possibility that they might cooperate with authorities on the case against the mayor. Bove’s letter did not address these cases.
