By Steve Neavling
A federal judge in Manhattan appears unlikely to rubber-stamp the Justice Department’s request to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams just weeks before his trial.
Judge Dale E. Ho scheduled a hearing for Wednesday afternoon after three government lawyers from Washington moved to drop the case on Friday, the Associated Press reports. The request came after Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, resigned rather than comply with the order.
In a Tuesday order, Ho suggested the hearing would be just the first step, noting that one topic on the agenda would be the “procedure for resolution of the motion.” The judge is also expected to discuss the government’s rationale for seeking to dismiss the indictment against Adams.
The first-term Democrat has pleaded not guilty to charges of accepting more than $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel perks from a Turkish official and business leaders while he was Brooklyn borough president. Prosecutors say the payments were meant to buy influence.
The push to drop the charges came last week when Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove instructed New York prosecutors in a memo to end the case, arguing that it had “unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime.” He said prosecutors could revisit the charges after November’s mayoral election.
Two days later, Sassoon, then the interim U.S. attorney, wrote to Attorney General Pam Bondi, calling Bove’s request an attempt to leverage the case in exchange for Adams’ cooperation on federal immigration policy.
“Dismissal of the indictment for no other reason than to influence Adams’s mayoral decision-making would be all three,” Sassoon, a Republican, wrote, referring to what she called a “quid pro quo” deal. She also said prosecutors were preparing to file additional obstruction of justice charges against Adams.
Sassoon resigned rather than comply with the order.
