Criminal case against NYC Mayor hangs by a thread after Justice Department orders it dropped The criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams hung by a thread on Tuesday after the Justice Department ordered federal prosecutors to drop the charges, though it remained unclear how quickly that might happen or if the acting U.S. attorney in Manhattan might try to resist the directive.
Bove said the Justice Department had decided to dismiss the case “without assessing the strength of the evidence,” but for a string of political considerations, including wanting to free up Adams to campaign for reelection as a Democrat who will support Trump's policy objectives.
In a two-page memo sent on Monday, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove directed federal prosecutors to dismiss the bribery charges “as soon as is practicable,” saying that they were disrupting the mayor's ability to assist in President Donald Trump's crackdown on immigration and crime.
Prosecutors also said they had evidence Adams personally directed campaign staffers to solicit foreign donations, then disguised those contributions in order to qualify for a city program that provides a generous, publicly-funded match for small dollar donations.
Many of Adams' Democratic opponents in the June mayoral primary castigated the Justice Department's decision to shut down the case and accused the mayor of adopting a pro-Trump agenda out of a desire for personal preservation.
