Push to drop Eric Adams’ charges stirs debate over justice system
By Addison Brewer-Hay
The Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors on Monday to drop the corruption charges against New York mayor Eric Adams. The order was sent in a letter by the department official Emil Bove III to the Manhattan prosecutors who initially gave Adams the charges last year.
His charges include conspiracy, wire fraud, soliciting illegal foreign campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and bribery.
Mr. Bove defended the department’s decision saying that Adams’ indictment made him unable to effectively cooperate with Trump’s crackdown on immigration policies. He also stated that the indictment, given in September, could interfere in the June 2025 mayoral primary.
There is, however, a nine-month period between the two events.
Bove’s letter criticized the U.S. attorney who brought the charges against Adams as well as former president Joe Biden. According to the New York Times, Bove explicitly said that the Justice Department did not assess Adam’s charges and instead looked to other issues as a means of justifying their decision.
The letter directed that the charges against Adams be dismissed without prejudice and suggested that the charges may be reinstated if merited or if the president pleased. Due to this intervention, many have questioned the independence of federal prosecutors due to Mr. Adams gaining favor with President Trump.
“The Department of Justice is making decisions that are not based on the facts or the law,” said Carrie H. Cohen, a former federal public corruption prosecutor in Manhattan. “The memo explicitly says this is not about the facts or the law, but it’s about other considerations entirely.”
As news surfaced Monday, Mayor Adams was dining at Gallaghers Steakhouse with Republican billionaire John Catsimatidis, who has a close connection to President Trump.
Mr. Adams did not provide a comment but his lawyer, Alex Spiro, did. “As I said from the outset, the mayor is innocent — and he would prevail,” Mr. Spiro said. “Today he has. The Department of Justice has re-evaluated this case and determined it should not go forward.”
He did not comment on the Department of Justice’s letter refraining from commenting on evidence.
According to the New York Times, critics have accused Adams of building a connection with Donald Trump in hopes of receiving a pardon on his charges. They also say that the connection may grow stronger if Adams cooperates with President Trump’s migrant policies.
Mr. Trump has said that he would consider pardoning Adams during a news conference at Mar-a-Lago and painted Adams as a victim of politics. The president also claimed, without providing evidence, that he was himself a victim of politics at the hands of the federal and state prosecutors who brought four indictments against him.
Mr. Bove’s letter did not include a deadline by which prosecutors must file a motion with the court seeking dismissal of Adams’s charges.