Lawyers for New York City Mayor Eric Adams have asked a U.S. judge to dismiss the charges against him.
In the Wednesday filing, Adams’s attorneys asked to dismiss with prejudice all charges against their client, citing alleged prosecutorial misconduct and an “extraordinary” flurry of leaks that they argued would have violated Adams’ right to a fair trial.
The filing comes nearly two weeks after the Justice Department filed a motion to dismiss the corruption case against Adams, and after the presiding judge in the case, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho, declined to immediately grant the request to do so. (RELATED: DOJ Drops Bribery Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams)
The directive, issued under the Trump administration‘s DOJ leadership, ordered the Southern District of New York (SDNY) to dismiss the case without prejudice. Sources close to the matter indicated the move followed concerns over political bias and procedural missteps in the prosecution.
“You are directed, as authorized by the Attorney General, to dismiss the pending charges,” Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove stated in an official letter.
The letter cited “independent reasons” for ending the case, including allegations that the prosecution was retaliatory—potentially linked to Adams’ vocal criticism of the Biden administration‘s immigration policies.
“It cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior administration’s immigration policies before the charges were filed, and the former U.S. Attorney’s public actions created appearances of impropriety,” Bove wrote.
In the new filing, Adams’ legal team asked Judge Ho to grant the Justice Department’s request to drop charges swiftly and prejudice, arguing that the actions by prosecutors had violated multiple statutory and court rules, including long-established Justice Department policies aimed at curbing prosecutorial misconduct.
They also cited the “extraordinary” amount of leaked information from prosecutors that they argued would have violated Adams’ right to a fair trial; noting in particular a Feb. 12 resignation letter by former acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, which lawyers said would have “destroyed whatever presumption of innocence Mayor Adams had left.”
“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,” they argued in the filing.
The now-dismissed indictment accused Adams of soliciting and accepting improper gifts dating back to 2014. Federal prosecutors alleged Adams engaged in bribery, fraud and campaign finance violations in a scheme that sought illicit contributions from foreign donors, including prominent Turkish businessmen and a Turkish government official. (RELATED: DOJ Drops Bribery Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams)
The prosecution claimed Adams was aware of the donations’ illegal nature and had personally benefited from over $100,000 in luxury perks, including first-class flights and five-star accommodations. By 2018, investigators alleged, Adams sought further illegal contributions for his 2021 mayoral campaign while continuing to accept other benefits from foreign entities.
“The mayor had a duty to disclose these gifts on his annual public disclosure forms, so that the public could see who was giving him what,” Williams said at a press conference on Sept. 26, 2024. “But as we allege, year after year after year, he kept the public in the dark.”
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