Prosecutor in charge of case against Mayor Adams resigns after DOJ order to drop charges against him

In addition to Sassoon, other top officials also resigned in protest.

Mayor Adams in a file image/ Luiz Rampelotto. — Mayor Adams in a file image/ *Luiz Rampelotto*.Cordon Press

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February 14, 2025

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The acting U.S. attorney Danielle Sassoon, who had been appointed by the administration of President Donald Trump to lead the office prosecuting New York Mayor Eric Adams for a case of alleged corruption has tendered his resignation. In the resignation letter he explained that, although his team planned to charge him with lying to the FBI and destroying evidence, the Department of Justice (DOJ) ordered the case dropped. In addition to Sassoon, other top officials also resigned in protest.

In his eight-page letter, Sassoon explained that the DOJ decision granted leniency to the Democratic mayor of the Big Apple in exchange for his compliance with President Trump's orders on immigration. In his letter, Sassoon detailed that, "rather than being rewarded, Adams's advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case."

Sassoon refused to comply with DOJ order

The clash between Sassoon and the DOJ took place on Monday, when acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove ordered the now-former acting prosecutor to drop all corruption charges against Mayor Adams. As revealed by The Wall Street Journal, Sassoon, who is a Republican who worked for years as an assistant to the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, refused to comply with the order to dismiss the case on the grounds that Bove was engaging in political interference.

In response, Bove issued a memo to Sassoon where he accepted his resignation and asserted that his decision on dropping charges had nothing to do with the strength of the evidence. Instead, Bove explained to Sassoon that he was incapable of fairly and impartially reviewing all the details related to Adams' case. Similarly, the acting deputy attorney general announced that he would put the prosecutors in the case on administrative leave and said that both they and Sassoon would be subject to internal investigations.

Democratic corruption

The case against Adams came just weeks after New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez was found guilty of 16 counts of corruption and bribery for which he had been indicted in a New York court. The well-known Democratic leader admitted to having received bribes paid in a luxury car and gold bullion. Previously, both he and his wife, Nadine, had been indicted by prosecutors for accepting million-dollar gifts from Qatar and Egypt to help Menendez politically during his time as a senator.

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