The corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams should be permanently dismissed, rather than temporarily as the Trump administration has sought, according to a legal brief filed Friday. The brief was filed by the outside attorney appointed by a federal judge to advise him on the case.
Paul Clement, the former U.S. Solicitor General, submitted the closely watched recommendation on Friday, two weeks after Judge Dale Ho appointed him to argue against the Trump Justice Department’s advice to dismiss Adams’ charges without prejudice, in which case they could be reinstated at any time.
Clement, in a 33-page brief, wrote that the Constitution’s separation of powers means that a judge cannot force a prosecution to continue when the Justice Department, controlled by the president, wants to drop the case. But leaving a case dismissed without prejudice “creates a palpable sense that the prosecution outlined in the indictment and approved by a grand jury could be renewed, a prospect that hangs like the proverbial Sword of Damocles over the accused,” Clement wrote.
That possibility “could create the appearance, if not the reality, that the actions of a public official are being driven by concerns about staying in the good graces of the federal executive,” he added — a situation that resembles Adams’ current predicament, in which he is perceived as indebted to President Donald Trump and has vowed to collaborate with him on immigration policies.
Clement’s recommendation would be a victory for Adams, whose own attorneys had also asked the court to dismiss his case with prejudice. His request to permanently end his case effectively put him at odds with the same Justice Department that had given him a legal lifeline by moving to dismiss the case in the first place.
Ho had asked other parties in the case, including the Justice Department, to submit their own arguments by Friday about why the charges should be dismissed without prejudice, but that filing had not been published by late afternoon.
Ho said that “if necessary,” he would hold a hearing March 14 after reading both sides’ arguments. But he said that Adams had no obligation to appear in person for future hearings, given his job as mayor.
