A federal judge dismissed Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case Wednesday, eliminating the possibility that the Trump Justice Department could reopen the case.
In dismissing the charges “with prejudice,” Manhattan Federal Judge Dale Ho rejected the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss the case “without prejudice,” based on the argument that the mayor’s indictment on bribery and campaign finance fraud charges was interfering with his ability to assist the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement initiative.
Ho said that dismissing the case without prejudice would have created “the unavoidable perception that the Mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration, and that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents.”
The dismissal comes just weeks before the June 24 mayor primary and a day before the mayor is required to file petition signatures his campaign is collecting to get on the ballot.
Last September, Manhattan federal prosecutors charged Adams with soliciting and accepting illegal campaign donations, including some from foreign sources tied to the Turkish government, that helped him generate $10 million in public matching funds during his 2021 election to City Hall. He also accepted more than $120,000 in travel perks arranged by the Turkish consulate, they alleged.
Adams denied wrongdoing and in February the newly arrived Trump Justice Department asked Ho to toss the case. But because they left the door open to reopen it down the road, a chorus of elected officials and good government types charged that the mayor was now a hostage to the administration.
Four top deputies resigned in protest, and the mayor’s standing in the polls plummeted.
Ho took his time in ruling on the dismissal request, however, allowing third parties to file so-called “friend of the court” briefs arguing both for dismissing the case with prejudice and holding a hearing to explore the nature of the Justice Department’s decision. The department acknowledged that it had not examined the merits of the case, and the acting Manhattan U.S. attorney, Danielle Sassoon, refused to follow the order and resigned in protest.
The Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the case created an uproar that continues to resonate in the mayoral race.
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