Justice Department Officials Resign in Protest over Bribery Case Against NYC Mayor Eric Adams
Several senior officials from the Justice Department resigned on Thursday in protest against an order to drop a bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. This act of resistance comes as President Donald Trump seeks to overhaul the agency, claiming that it has been weaponized against political opponents.
The six resignations include Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, who was appointed by Trump to lead the office prosecuting Adams. In a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sassoon expressed her frustration with the rushed and superficial process that led to the decision to drop the case. Adams, a Democrat, has accused the Biden administration of targeting him and has been willing to work with the Trump administration to crack down on illegal immigration. He pleaded not guilty to charges of accepting bribes from Turkish officials.
Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, dismissed the charges against his client as a “sham.” He argued that if the prosecutors had any evidence of the mayor destroying evidence, they would have brought those charges earlier. Spiro characterized the prosecution as misguided and exposed as a sham.
Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a Trump appointee, wrote in a memo that Sassoon had refused to comply with the office’s finding that the case against Adams amounted to the weaponization of the justice system. Bove stated that Sassoon had lost sight of the oath she took when she started at the DOJ and that the department would not tolerate insubordination.
After Sassoon’s refusal to dismiss the case, the Trump administration directed John Keller, the acting head of the Justice Department’s public corruption unit, to do so. Keller also resigned, along with Kevin Driscoll, a senior official in the department’s criminal division. Three other deputies in the public corruption unit – Rob Heberle, Jenn Clarke, and Marco Palmieri – also resigned over the Adams case.
In a statement, Bove defended the decision to dismiss the prosecution against Adams, stating that it was necessary to prioritize national security and public safety over continuing with a case that had been tainted from the start by troubling tactics. He emphasized that there is no room at the Justice Department for attorneys who refuse to execute the priorities of the Executive Branch.
It remains to be seen how these resignations will impact the ongoing investigation into Adams and the broader efforts to reform the Justice Department. The Trump administration’s push to overhaul the agency has faced criticism from some who see it as an attempt to undermine the independence of the justice system. As this story unfolds, it will be important to monitor the reactions of both political leaders and the public to these developments.
