Top Justice Department official orders prosecutors to drop charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams

NEW YORK (AP) — The Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors Monday to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, arguing in a remarkable departure from longstanding prosecutorial norms that the case was interfering with the mayor’s ability to crack down on illegal immigration and violent crime.

In a two-page memo obtained by The Associated Press, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove called on prosecutors to immediately pause the prosecution, which he described as politically tainted.

He said the order was not based on the strength of the case, but rather because it had distracted Adams from devoting his “full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that has escalated under the policies of the prior Administration.”

The Justice Department’s order directs that the case be dismissed without prejudice, which conceivably means that it could be refiled later.

The memo marked a radical departure from longstanding Justice Department norms, both in terms of the directive to dismiss an ongoing case that prosecutors had already deemed meritorious and because of its stated rationale that a powerful defendant could be too occupied with official duties to face accountability for alleged crimes.

Public officials at the highest level of government are routinely investigated by the Justice Department, including Trump while he was president, without prosecutors advancing a claim that they should be let off the hook to attend to government service.

An attorney for Adams, Alex Spiro, said the Justice Department’s order had vindicated the mayor’s claim of innocence. “Now, thankfully, the mayor and New York can put this unfortunate and misguided prosecution behind them.”

A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York prosecutors who had been ordered to drop the charges, Nicholas Biase, declined to comment.

The development comes after months of speculation that Trump’s Justice Department would take steps to end the criminal case against Adams, who was accused of accepting bribes of free or discounted travel and illegal campaign contributions.

Trump had hinted at the possibility of a pardon in December, telling reporters that the mayor had been “treated pretty unfairly.” He had also claimed, without offering evidence, that Adams was being persecuted for criticizing former President Joe Biden’s policies on immigration.

After Trump’s inauguration, Adams’ lawyers had approached senior Justice Department officials, asking them to intervene and drop the case.

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