By Steve Neavling
New York City Mayor Eric Adams is pushing for the dismissal of the federal corruption case against him in a way that would prevent prosecutors from refiling charges in the future, putting him at odds with the Justice Department’s approach.
In a 20-page court filing Wednesday, Adams’ attorneys argued that the five-count case should be permanently dismissed due to what they described as improper disclosures by the Justice Department, Politico reports. The request comes after the release of a letter from then-interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon to Attorney General Pam Bondi, which outlined plans to seek additional charges against Adams. The letter alleged he destroyed evidence, instructed others to do the same, and misled the FBI. It also accused Adams and his legal team of offering a quid pro quo to federal prosecutors.
Adams’ lawyers also criticized the publication of internal Justice Department communications, including what they called an “unhinged” resignation letter from Hagan Scotten, a prosecutor who quit over the case’s handling.
“In addition to violating Mayor Adams’s fundamental constitutional rights and ability to receive a fair trial, the government’s leaks violated numerous statutory and court rules, including the Justice Department’s own longstanding policies aimed at curbing prosecutorial misconduct,” attorneys Alex Spiro and William Burck wrote in their filing to U.S. District Judge Dale Ho.
They argued that because of the “extreme prejudice” caused by the disclosures, the judge should dismiss the case “with prejudice,” barring prosecutors from bringing the charges again.
That request clashes with the Justice Department’s own effort to drop the case. Earlier this month, Emil Bove, the acting No. 2 official at the department, directed prosecutors in Manhattan to seek a dismissal “without prejudice,” a move Adams initially supported. Bove’s reasoning — that dropping the case would allow Adams to carry out President Donald Trump’s immigration policies — sparked backlash from legal experts and fellow Democrats, who accused the administration of keeping the threat of prosecution as leverage over the mayor.
The controversy deepened after Sassoon and several prosecutors in New York and Washington resigned in protest rather than comply with Bove’s order. Last week, Bove defended his decision in court.
Instead of immediately granting the Justice Department’s request to dismiss, Ho appointed an independent lawyer to present opposing arguments on the matter.
In their filing Wednesday, Adams’ attorneys clarified that the mayor had agreed to the government’s motion to dismiss the case without prejudice but was making a separate request to ensure prosecutors couldn’t later claim he had waived his right to seek a permanent dismissal.
