In a city that has long served as a proving ground for the tension between law and power, the United States Justice Department moved to erase corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams — a decision that prompted seven federal prosecutors to resign rather than lend their names to what they saw as a compromise of the republic's foundational principles. The episode, unfolding across a single week in February 2025, laid bare a fracture between Washington's political leadership and the prosecutorial tradition of independence that institutions like the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office
Justice Department seeks to dismiss Adams corruption charges amid prosecutor resignations
No system of ordered liberty can allow the government to use prosecutorial power to influence elected officials.
Mark
So the Justice Department's number two just asked a judge to drop the case against the mayor. What's the actual charge here?
Mimi
Adams accepted over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and travel perks from foreign nationals who wanted his influence. He pleaded not guilty back in September.
Mark
And Bove—the Acting Deputy AG—he just decided to drop it?
Mimi
He directed the prosecutors to drop it. But they refused. Seven of them quit instead, including the interim U.S. Attorney for Manhattan.
Mark
Why would they resign over a directive from their boss?
Mimi
Because they saw it as political interference. Bove argued the case was interfering with Adams' ability to govern and his reelection campaign. The prosecutors thought that was backwards—that using prosecutorial power to influence an elected official's policy decisions was the real threat.
Luke
But Bove did file the motion, right? So even though the prosecutors quit, the Justice Department still formally asked the judge to dismiss.
Mimi
Yes. The motion has Bove's signature and two other officials from Washington. No one from the Manhattan office signed it.
Mark
What did the prosecutors actually say in their resignation letters?
Mimi
Sassoon, the interim U.S. Attorney, told the Attorney General that judges have rejected these kinds of dismissal requests before as contrary to the public interest. Scotten, who worked on the Adams case, was more direct—he said it would take a fool or a coward to comply with Bove's demand.
Luke
Did Adams or his team actually offer something in exchange for dropping the case?
Mimi
Sassoon alleged they offered a quid pro quo—his help on immigration policy in exchange for dismissing the charges. Adams and his lawyer denied it, saying they just answered truthfully when asked if the case had bearing on immigration and national security.
Luke
So that's one person's characterization against another's denial. We don't have independent confirmation of what was actually said in those meetings.
Mimi
Correct. And the judge still has to decide whether to approve the dismissal motion.
Mark
What happens next?
Mimi
Judge Ho will likely hold a hearing or ask for more papers. Legal experts say he'll want to understand his own role and authority in this situation. The case could be dismissed, refiled after the election, or the judge could reject the dismissal entirely.
Le Pouls
- Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove gave prosecutors one hour to choose between signing a dismissal motion and losing their careers — a pressure that exposed how quickly institutional loyalty can be weaponized.
- Seven federal prosecutors, including the interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney, chose resignation over compliance, sending a rare and public signal that the directive crossed a line they were unwilling to cross.
- Resignation letters described the situation in stark terms — one prosecutor, a decorated Army Special Forces veteran and former Supreme Court clerk, wrote that only a fool or a coward would comply.
- The dismissal motion itself arrived before Judge Dale E. Ho bearing no signatures from the Manhattan office that built the case, a conspicuous absence that legal observers say will likely invite hard questions from the bench.
- Former U.S. attorneys, including James Comey, publicly rallied behind the departing prosecutors, framing the moment as a test of whether the rule of law can hold against political convenience.
In a city that has long served as a proving ground for the tension between law and power, the United States Justice Department moved to erase corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams — a decision that prompted seven federal prosecutors to resign rather than lend their names to what they saw as a compromise of the republic's foundational principles. The episode, unfolding across a single week in February 2025, laid bare a fracture between Washington's political leadership and the prosecutorial tradition of independence that institutions like the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office have guarded for generations. At its heart, the conflict asks an ancient question: whether justice is a principle or a tool.
On a Friday morning in February 2025, the Justice Department's second-ranking official filed a motion asking a federal judge to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams — charges rooted in allegations that Adams had accepted over $100,000 in illegal foreign contributions and luxury travel in exchange for political influence. The filing argued that continuing the prosecution would impair Adams' ability to govern and campaign, and left open the possibility of refiling charges after the November election.
The motion was the culmination of a week-long confrontation between Washington's Justice Department leadership and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had gathered prosecutors the day before and given them an hour to decide whether to sign the dismissal — dangling promotions for those who agreed. The public integrity unit, which handles corruption cases, instead reached a collective decision to resign.
Seven prosecutors ultimately walked out, among them interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, a Republican who had written directly to Attorney General Pam Bondi requesting a meeting before any action was taken. In her letter, Sassoon warned that the judge would likely scrutinize the dismissal closely and suggested that Adams' legal team had effectively offered a quid pro quo — cooperation on immigration enforcement in exchange for dropping the charges. Adams and his attorney denied the characterization.
Perhaps the most striking resignation came from Hagan Scotten, an assistant U.S. attorney who had led the Adams prosecution. A Harvard Law graduate, former Supreme Court clerk, and decorated Army Special Forces officer, Scotten wrote that no system of ordered liberty could permit the government to use the threat of prosecution — or the promise of its removal — to shape an elected official's policy positions. He acknowledged that a deal-minded politician might see the arrangement as practical, but said prosecutors were bound by a different standard.
The dismissal motion carried only three signatures, none from the Manhattan office that had built the case. Judge Dale E. Ho had not yet ruled as of Friday evening, and legal observers expected him to demand a hearing before acting. Seven former Manhattan U.S. attorneys, including James Comey and Geoffrey Berman, issued a statement praising those who resigned, framing their stand as a defense of the rule of law itself.
On Friday morning, the Justice Department's second-ranking official filed paperwork asking a federal judge to throw out corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. The move came after Emil Bove, the Acting Deputy Attorney General, had convened prosecutors in Washington the day before and given them an hour to decide who would sign onto the dismissal motion—with a promise of promotion for those who complied.
The charges against Adams stem from September, when he pleaded not guilty to accepting more than $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel from foreign nationals seeking his influence while he was Brooklyn borough president. The Justice Department's motion to Judge Dale E. Ho argued that continuing the prosecution would interfere with Adams' ability to govern and his reelection campaign, citing unspecified threats to public safety, national security, and federal immigration enforcement. The department said it was open to refiling the charges after the November election.
What happened next revealed a deep fracture within the federal government's prosecutorial ranks. Rather than comply with Bove's directive, prosecutors in the public integrity section—the unit that handles corruption cases—reached a consensus to resign en masse. A veteran prosecutor in the group stepped forward, concerned that younger colleagues would lose their jobs if everyone walked out. In the end, seven federal prosecutors quit in protest, including Danielle Sassoon, the interim U.S. Attorney for Manhattan, and Hagan Scotten, an assistant U.S. attorney who had a leading role in the Adams case.
Sassoon, a Republican, had received Bove's dismissal order on Monday. Instead of obeying, she sent a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday asking for a meeting to reconsider the directive. In that letter, she suggested that Judge Ho would likely conduct a thorough inquiry into why the case should be dismissed, and she noted that judges have rejected such requests before as contrary to the public interest. She also accused Adams' legal team of offering what amounted to a quid pro quo—his cooperation on immigration policy in exchange for dropping the charges. Adams and his lawyer Alex Spiro denied the allegation, with Spiro saying they had simply answered truthfully when asked whether the case had bearing on national security and immigration enforcement.
Scotten's resignation letter on Friday was particularly pointed. A Harvard Law School graduate who had clerked for Chief Justice John Roberts and served as an Army Special Forces commander in Iraq, earning two Bronze medals, Scotten wrote that it would take a fool or a coward to meet Bove's demand. He told Bove he was entirely in agreement with Sassoon's decision and warned that no system of ordered liberty could allow the government to use the threat of prosecution or the promise of dismissal to influence elected officials' policy positions. Scotten acknowledged that a businessman-politician like Trump might view such a deal as pragmatic, but he said prosecutors were bound by different rules.
The dismissal motion itself bore only three signatures: Bove's, Edward Sullivan's (the public integrity section's senior litigation counsel), and Antoinette Bacon's (a supervisory official in the criminal division). Notably, no one from the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office, which had brought the Adams case, signed the document. The filing came five days into a confrontation between Justice Department leadership in Washington and the Manhattan office, which has long prided itself on independence in pursuing Wall Street fraud, political corruption, and international terrorism.
On Thursday, Bove had suspended the Adams case prosecutors with pay and launched an investigation into whether they would keep their jobs. Seven former Manhattan U.S. attorneys, including James Comey and Geoffrey S. Berman, issued a public statement praising Sassoon's commitment to integrity and the rule of law. Judge Ho had not yet ruled on the dismissal motion as of Friday evening. Legal observers suggested the judge would likely demand an in-person hearing or additional written submissions to explore his role and authority under the rules governing such requests.
Citations marquantes
No 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.— Hagan Scotten, assistant U.S. attorney, in his resignation letter
We were asked if the case had any bearing on national security and immigration enforcement and we truthfully answered it did.— Alex Spiro, Adams' lawyer, responding to quid pro quo allegations
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Crime & Justice