A Justice Dept. in Turmoil Moves to Dismiss Eric Adams’s Corruption Case

New York|A Justice Dept. in Turmoil Moves to Dismiss Eric Adams’s Corruption Case

• Feb. 14, 2025Updated 8:58 p.m. ET

The first act of a drama that has shaken the Department of Justice ended Friday when a top official signed a formal request to drop corruption charges against New York’s mayor after Manhattan’s acting U.S. attorney refused to and resigned.

The official, Emil Bove III, had originally ordered Manhattan federal prosecutors who brought the case against Mayor Eric Adams to seek its dismissal. But the leader of the Manhattan office, Danielle R. Sassoon, resigned rather than obey, and she was followed out the door by at least six other prosecutors in New York and Washington.

Mr. Bove, whose order specified that the decision to dismiss the case had nothing do with its legal strengths, was ultimately compelled to sign the motion himself, along with two other Washington prosecutors, Edward Sullivan and Antoinette T. Bacon.

The reason he gave the judge was the same as he gave the New York prosecutors: that the prosecution would hinder Mr. Adams’s ability to cooperate with the Trump administration’s immigration policies. It was a highly unusual rationale for dismissing a criminal case, which is typically evaluated on the basis of the facts and the law. The abnormality was underscored by Mr. Bove’s difficulty in finding a prosecutor willing to affix a name to the filing.

Now attention will turn to Dale E. Ho, the judge who is overseeing the case in Manhattan federal court.

Mr. Adams was indicted last year on five counts, including bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations. He pleaded not guilty and was scheduled for trial in April. Ms. Sassoon, in a letter to the attorney general this week, said that prosecutors were prepared to bring an additional charge that would accuse him of destroying evidence and instructing others to do the same.