Eric Adams Wants Case Thrown Out Over Misconduct

NYC mayor, Justice Department are asking judge to dismiss charges over prosecutorial conduct
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 26, 2025 9:40 AM CST
Eric Adams Claims Misconduct, Wants Case Thrown Out
New York City Mayor Eric Adams attends an event at the NYPD's 40th Precinct on Thursday in the Bronx borough of New York.   (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New York City Mayor Eric Adams asked a federal judge on Wednesday to toss out the corruption case against him, alleging prosecutorial misconduct, even as the Justice Department seeks dismissal of the charges on the Democrat's behalf. In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, his lawyers alleged that the misconduct occurred when the government publicly leaked a letter then-US Attorney Danielle Sassoon wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi explaining why charges shouldn't be dropped. She wrote the letter, offering to resign, as she refused to follow acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove's directive to drop the charges against the embattled mayor two weeks ago. Bove accepted the resignation, reports the AP.

Bove had written a letter to Sassoon, saying the mayor was needed to assist President Trump's priorities, particularly the fight against illegal immigration and violent crime. He also said the charges were interfering with this year's mayoral race. In their court papers Wednesday, Adams' lawyers wrote that the public release of Sassoon's "unhinged resignation letter" to Bondi was "part of an extraordinary flurry of leaked internal Justice Department correspondence" that occurred after Bove issued his directive to Sassoon.

The lawyers said Sassoon notified Bondi that prosecutors were planning to add an obstruction charge against Adams in a superseding indictment and made the "wildly inflammatory and false accusation" that Adams and his lawyers had offered to help the Trump administration in return for the dismissal of charges. The lawyers said the public exposure of the unusual Justice Department internal fight had violated Adams' constitutional rights and interfered with his ability to receive a fair trial. "Mayor Adams was prosecuted in the media long before there was ever an indictment. ... This case, which was once just a farce, has now become a cancer," they said.

(More Eric Adams stories.)

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