NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� The Justice Department asked a court Friday to dismiss against New York City Mayor , with a top official from Washington intervening after federal prosecutors in Manhattan rebuffed his demands to drop the case and some quit in protest.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, the department鈥檚 second-in-command, and lawyers from the public integrity section and criminal division filed paperwork asking to end the case. They contend it was marred by appearances of impropriety and that letting it continue would interfere with the mayor鈥檚 reelection bid. A judge must still approve the request.
The filing came hours after Bove convened a call with the prosecutors in the Justice Department鈥檚 public integrity section 鈥� which handles corruption cases 鈥� and gave them an hour to pick two people to sign onto the motion to dismiss, saying those who did so could be promoted, according to a person familiar with the matter.
After prosecutors got off the call with Bove, the consensus among the group was that they would all resign. But a veteran prosecutor stepped up out of concern for the jobs of the younger people in the unit, said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the private meeting.
The three-page dismissal motion bore Bove’s signature and the names of Edward Sullivan, the public integrity section鈥檚 senior litigation counsel, and Antoinette Bacon, a supervisory official in the department鈥檚 criminal division. No one from the federal prosecutor鈥檚 office in Manhattan, which brought the Adams case, signed the document.
The move came five days into a showdown between Justice Department leadership in Washington and its Manhattan office, which has long prided itself on its independence as it has taken on Wall Street malfeasance, political corruption and international terrorism.
At least seven prosecutors in Manhattan and Washington to halt the case, including interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney and the acting chief of the public integrity section in Washington.
The Justice Department said in its motion to Judge Dale E. Ho that it was seeking to dismiss Adams鈥� charges with the option of refiling them later. Ho had yet to take action on the request as of Friday evening.
鈥淚 imagine the judge is going to want to explore what his role is under the rules,鈥� said Joshua Naftalis, a former Manhattan federal prosecutor who is not involved in Adams鈥� case. 鈥淚 would expect the court to either ask the parties to come in person to court or to file papers, or both.鈥�
Bove said earlier this week that Trump鈥檚 permanent, appointed Manhattan U.S. attorney, who has yet to be confirmed by the Senate, can decide whether to refile the charges after the November election. Adams faces a Democratic primary in June, with several challengers lined up. His trial had been on track to be held in the spring.
Bove concluded that continuing the prosecution would interfere with Adams鈥� ability to govern, posing 鈥渦nacceptable threats to public safety, national security, and related federal immigration initiatives and policies,” the dismissal motion said. Among other things, it said, the case caused Adams to be denied access to sensitive information necessary to help protect the city.
Adams pleaded not guilty in September to charges he accepted more than $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and lavish travel perks from foreign nationals looking to buy his influence while he was Brooklyn borough president campaigning to be mayor.
Though critical in the past, Adams has bonded at times with Trump recently and visited him at his Florida golf club last month. The president has criticized the case against Adams and said he was open to giving the mayor, who was a registered Republican in the 1990s, a pardon.
Bove sent a memo Monday directing Sassoon, a Republican, to drop the case. He argued the mayor was needed in President Donald Trump鈥檚 immigration crackdown and echoed Adams鈥� claims that the case was retaliation for his criticism of Biden administration immigration policies.
Instead of complying, Sassoon resigned Thursday, along with five high-ranking Justice Department officials in Washington. A day earlier, to Trump鈥檚 new attorney general, Pam Bondi, asking her to meet and reconsider the directive to drop the case.
Sassoon suggested in her letter that Ho 鈥渁ppears likely to conduct a searching inquiry” as to why the case should be dismissed. She noted that in at least one instance, a judge has rejected such a request as contrary to the public interest. 鈥淎 rigorous inquiry here would be consistent with precedent and practice in this and other districts,” she wrote.
Seven former Manhattan U.S. attorneys, including James Comey, Geoffrey S. Berman and Mary Jo White, issued a statement lauding Sassoon鈥檚 鈥渃ommitment to integrity and the rule of law.”
On Friday, Hagan Scotten, an assistant U.S. attorney in Manhattan who worked for Sassoon and had a leading role in Adams’ case, became the seventh prosecutor to resign 鈥� and blasted Bove in the process.
Scotten wrote in a to Bove that it would take a 鈥渇ool鈥� or a 鈥渃oward鈥� to meet to drop the charges, “But it was never going to be me.鈥� He told Bove he was 鈥渆ntirely in agreement鈥� with Sassoon鈥檚 decision.
Scotten and other Adams case prosecutors were suspended with pay on Thursday by Bove, who launched a probe of the prosecutors that he said would determine whether they kept their jobs.
Scotten is an Army veteran who earned two Bronze medals serving in Iraq as a Special Forces troop commander. He graduated from Harvard Law School at the top of his class in 2010 and clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts.
In her letter to Bondi, Sassoon accused Adams鈥� lawyers of offering what amounted to a 鈥渜uid pro quo鈥� 鈥� his help on immigration in exchange for dropping the case 鈥� when they met with Justice Department officials in Washington last month.
Adams’ lawyer Alex Spiro said Thursday that the allegation of a quid pro quo was a 鈥渢otal lie.”
鈥淲e were asked if the case had any bearing on national security and immigration enforcement and we truthfully answered it did,” Spiro said in an email to reporters.
On Friday, Adams added: 鈥淚 never offered 鈥� nor did anyone offer on my behalf 鈥� any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case. Never.鈥�
Scotten seconded Sassoon鈥檚 objections in his letter, writing: 鈥淣o system of ordered liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives.”
The prosecutor, who appeared in court for various hearings in the case, said he was following 鈥渁 tradition in public service of resigning in a last-ditch effort to head off a serious mistake.”
He said he could see how a president such as Trump, with a background in business and politics, 鈥渕ight see the contemplated dismissal-with-leverage as a good, if distasteful, deal.鈥� But he said any prosecutor 鈥渨ould know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way.鈥�
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Richer and Tucker reported from Washington.
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