Eric Adams, mayor of New York, heart, through the sixtieth presidential inauguration in Emancipation Corridor of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, US, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2025.
Al Drago/Pool by way of REUTERS
Republican President Donald Trump’s Justice Division (DOJ) has instructed Manhattan federal prosecutors to drop Mayor Eric Adams’ five-count corruption indictment, based on a DOJ memo.
Within the memo, a replica of which The New York Instances posted on-line Monday night, the DOJ’s performing second-in-command Emil Bove stated Adams’ case must be dismissed due to when Manhattan federal prosecutors introduced the fees and “pre-trial publicity that risks impacting potential witnesses and the jury pool.”
Adams was indicted in September on fees together with bribery and soliciting overseas marketing campaign donations, to which he pleaded not responsible and was set to face trial in April. He’s accused of accepting luxurious journey perks and unlawful marketing campaign donations from Turkish nationals in alternate for serving to them open a Manhattan consulate constructing that didn’t cross metropolis fireplace inspections. Prosecutors additionally allege that his marketing campaign defrauded the town’s beneficiant matching funds program.
Bove’s memo additionally contended it “cannot be ignored” that the fees got here after Adams had spent months criticizing former President Joe Biden’s immigration insurance policies — showing to repeat Adams’ declare that the fees had been political retribution for his broadsides agianst the prior administration. Adams has by no means introduced any proof to again his assertion and the federal case started in 2021, effectively earlier than he ever criticized Biden’s dealing with of immigration.
Moreover, Bove stated the fees had been introduced too near the 2025 mayoral major and will hinder Adams’ potential to implement Trump’s immigration agenda.
Bove stated the fees must be dropped “without prejudice,” that means DOJ might reopen the case.
Adams should comply with have the fees dismissed with out prejudice, then the matter should be reviewed by interim US Lawyer for the Sourthern District of New York Danielle Sassoon after the November 2025 basic election, based on the memo.
Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, claimed in a press release that Trump’s DOJ “reevaluated the case and determined it should not go forward.”
“The facts of the case are clear: the mayor never used his official position for personal benefit,” Spiro stated. “Nor did he have any role in violating campaign finance laws. Despite a lot of fanfare and sensational claims, ultimately there was no evidence presented that he broke any laws, ever. The witnesses that were promised never materialized…Now, thankfully, the mayor and New York can put this unfortunate and misguided prosecution behind them.”
Nevertheless, Bove’s memo straight contradicts Spiro’s assertion.
“The Justice Department has reached this conclusion without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based, which are issues on which we defer to the US Attorney’s Office at this time,” the memo reads.
The DOJ’s orders adopted months of Adams refusing to criticize Trump in public, not like most Democrats, and as an alternative talking positively in regards to the president. Adams’ overtures to Trump got here to a head final month when he traveled to Palm Seaside to attend a personal assembly with the then-incoming president and took a last-minute jaunt to Washington DC to attend Trump’s inauguration.
These actions, together with Adams’ obvious willingness to adjust to Trump’s immigration crackdown regardless of the town’s sanctuary legal guidelines, fueled widespread hypothesis that he was currying favor with the president in alternate for having the fees in opposition to him dropped.
The crowded area of opponents difficult Adams within the Democratic major wasted no time making that precise argument on Monday night time.
State Sen. Zellnor Myrie (D-Brooklyn) stated the DOJ’s transfer to drop Adams’ case reveals that “justice is dead” in the US.
“The decision by Trump’s Department of Justice to drop charges against Eric Adams should outrage every single New Yorker,” Myrie stated in a press release. “We already know that Eric Adams has sacrificed the safety and sanctity of our schools and public hospitals to curry favor with this fascist Administration. How many more of our rights and freedoms did the Mayor give up to save his own skin?”
One other candidate, Queens state Sen. Jessica Ramos, charged that Adams is the “worst mayor in NYC history.”
“Donald Trump may think this buys him access to terrorize our communities, but New Yorkers always stand up for one another, no matter how many corrupt,” Ramos stated in a publish on X.
It is a growing story; examine with amNY.com for additional updates.
