A federal judge on Wednesday questioned a top Justice Department official who is seeking to dismiss corruption charges against embattled New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a move that has led to the resignation of eight prosecutors.
U.S. District Court Judge Dale E. Ho did not make a decision at the 90-minute hearing after instructing both parties to be prepared to discuss why the case should or should not be dismissed.
Emil Bove, the acting U.S. deputy attorney general, told Ho he was concerned that proceeding with the case would interfere with national security and immigration issues.
“What is set forth here is my conclusion that this case is an abuse of prosecutorial discretion,” Bove said.
Ho pressed Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, about suggestions made by then-interim U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon that the dismissal attempt was part of a quid pro quo deal with the Trump White House.
“It never happened,” Spiro responded, adding, “I am ready to raise my right hand now” and testify that there was no quid pro quo agreement between prosecutors and Adams that he would deliver on immigration issues from the Trump administration in exchange for dismissing the charges without prejudice.
Ho began the hearing by asking Adams whether he understood the terms of the agreement, including that he could still be indicted in the future. Adams said he did and told the judge that he had not committed a crime.
Ho’s questions focused on the legal rationale that guided the government’s motion to dismiss the case. Bove said that the indictment had cost Adams his security clearance and that to proceed with the case would prohibit Adams from speaking with the U.S. Attorney’s Office about immigration and other issues of importance to Trump.
Ho also asked Bove whether he was aware of other instances in which the Justice Department had sought the dismissal of a case for national security concerns involving an elected official. Bove said he was unaware of another case where a public official was at the center of the issue.
Outside of court Wednesday, ahead of the hearing, a crowd had gathered and chanted: “We don’t need a MAGA mayor. Adams out now” and “Hey hey ho ho. Eric Adams’ got to go.”
Adams was indicted in September on five counts, including bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.
Adams, a Democrat who is seeking re-election this year, has faced increased scrutiny and calls to resign. Those voices grew louder last week when Bove ordered federal prosecutors to set aside the case because, he said, the indictment came too close to June’s mayoral primary and hampered Adams’ ability to tackle “illegal immigration and violent crime.”
Bove’s order prompted a clash among government lawyers and led to the resignations of several top prosecutors who refused to seek dismissal, including Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, whom Trump had appointed to oversee the office on an interim basis.
Sassoon wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi last week that her office was preparing to file an additional charge against Adams, alleging he had destroyed evidence and instructed others to do the same. Sassoon said Adam’s attorneys had offered the White House a quid pro quo to assist in President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown in return for having the charges dropped.
“It is a breathtaking and dangerous precedent to reward Adams’s opportunistic and shifting commitments on immigration and other policy matters with dismissal of a criminal indictment,” she wrote.
Adams’ lawyer, Spiro, said afterward that the suggestion “there was a quid pro quo is a total lie.”
“We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us,” he said in a statement.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul raised the prospect of removing Adams after four of his top deputies resigned Monday because of the push to end his corruption case in apparent exchange for his cooperation with Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Hochul noted that removal powers have never been used against a sitting mayor in the state’s history, and that “overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly.”
“That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored,” she said in a statement.
Hochul, a Democrat, met Tuesday to discuss “the path forward” with City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who has called on the mayor to resign; the Rev. Al Sharpton; and City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is also running for mayor.
She also spoke with Rep. Gregory Meeks, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and about a dozen pastors and business and union leaders.
Sharpton, leader of the National Action Network and an MSNBC host, said after his meeting with Hochul that she had not decided on a course of action yet and planned to wait for the outcome of Wednesday’s hearing.
“My feeling is that the faith of the people of the city has been shaken and there needs to be a resolve, but at the same time we must protect the law and not establish a precedent that could come back to haunt us,” Sharpton said.
Among the New York Democrats who have called on Adams to resign are Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez, and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.
Adams has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted more than $100,000 in free plane tickets and luxury hotel stays from wealthy Turkish nationals and at least one government official. Adams has said the corruption charges are politically motivated.
Bove, the second-in-command at the Department of Justice, said Adams’ case would be reviewed by a new Trump-appointed U.S. attorney after the mayoral election in November.
More than 850 former federal prosecutors have signed a letter of support to current federal prosecutors after last week’s resignations, according to a copy of the letter obtained by NBC News. In the letter, the former prosecutors said that they have “watched with alarm” as values “foundational to a fair and justice legal system” have been tested in the past week.
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