Weeks after the Trump administration ordered prosecutors to drop the corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a federal judge has permanently dismissed the criminal case against him.
The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan resigned as a result of the action, accusing Adams of negotiating a dismissal of his case with the Trump administration in exchange for immigration enforcement.
The case was dismissed by the Manhattan judge “with prejudice,” meaning that the DOJ is unable to re-file the charges against Adams using the same evidence.
Adams was accused of bribery, soliciting unlawful campaign contributions, conspiracy, and fraud. He had denied any misconduct.
Adams was accused in an indictment last September of accepting gifts from Turkish nationals totaling over $100,000 (£75,000) in return for favors.
However, Trump appointee Emil Bove, acting deputy attorney general, ordered New York prosecutors to drop the case against Adams in February. The mayor’s ability to combat “illegal immigration and violent crime”—a “key goal of the Trump administration”—was “restricted,” he claimed, by the case.
Six senior Justice officials, including Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, resigned over the prosecutor, claiming that there was no legal basis for dismissing Adams’ case.
The mayor’s staff reportedly promised “what amounted to a quid pro quo,” according to Sassoon, who wrote to Bove’s supervisor, Attorney General Pam Bondi, indicating that Adams could assist with administrative procedures “only if the indictment were dismissed.”
In a scathing 78-page ruling on Wednesday, US District Judge Dale Ho said he was unconvinced by the justice department’s logic that the case against Adams was preventing the mayor from enforcing the administration’s immigration actions.
The dismissal of the indictment in exchange for concessions on immigration policy “smacks of a bargain,” he said.
Judge Ho claimed that by permanently dismissing the case, he made sure the administration would not have “leverage” over Adams or the city of New York because of the indictment.
“Dismissing the case without prejudice would create the unavoidable perception that the mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the administration’s immigration enforcement priorities and that he may be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents,” the judge stated.
Judge Ho stated that some people would “undoubtedly” find his decision unsatisfactory, questioning why, “if the DOJ’s ostensible reasons for dropping this case are so troubling, the Court does not simply deny the Motion to Dismiss altogether.”
However, he stated that the court cannot order the justice department to continue prosecuting if it has decided to drop the case.
A Department of Justice spokesperson described the case as “an example of political weaponization and a waste of resources. ” “We are focused on apprehending and prosecuting terrorists while returning the Department of Justice to its core mission of keeping Americans safe,” the spokesperson told CBS News
Adams told reporters on Wednesday, after the case was dismissed, that it “should never have been brought, and I did nothing wrong.”
The dismissal ruling comes less than three months before the 24 June New York City mayoral race primary. Polls suggest Adams is trailing behind several other Democratic candidates.
But he told reporters that he did plan to run for re-election.
“And you know what, I’m going to win,” he said.
