Justice Department drops corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams

Amna Nawaz:

But, first, this week the Department of Justice directed federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. Adams was indicted in September on five counts, which include accepting bribes and illegal foreign campaign contributions, in exchange for his influence as mayor.

Our White House correspondent, Laura Barron-Lopez, has more — Laura.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Amna, that Justice Department order comes after Mayor Eric Adams curried favor with President Trump for months, including dining with him in Florida.

Today, Adams addressed the move by the Justice Department.

Eric Adams (D), Mayor of New York: So let me be clear. I never ask anyone to break the law on my behalf or on behalf of my campaign, never. And I absolutely never traded my power as an elected official for any personal benefit.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Joining me now to discuss the implications of this order is Jessica Roth, former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York and professor at the Cardozo School of Law.

Jessica, thanks so much for joining.

To start, what's your reaction to this DOJ order?

Jessica Roth, Yeshiva University Cardozo School of Law: This is a highly unusual situation, to put it mildly.

It is very unusual for the deputy attorney general to direct prosecutors in a U.S. attorney's office to drop a case that has already been indicted. And the memo that contains that direction says a number of things that are highly, highly disturbing.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Yes, I want to talk about that memo.

In it to prosecutors, acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said the case should be dismissed because it restricts Mayor Adams' ability to — quote — "devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that both claims escalated under President Biden." Bove also cited Adams' reelection campaign.

Jessica, these look like expressly political reasons for dropping this case. What do you make of them?

Jessica Roth:

Yes, they do come across as expressly political reasons. And that's exactly the opposite about how decisions about who shall be prosecuted should be made.

And that's part of why decisions about whether cases should proceed are ordinarily left to the professional judgment of the line prosecutors who investigated the case and charged it and why the more political actors at main Justice, who have the most contact with the White House, generally do not play a role in making those decisions.

The memo that contains this direction to dismiss the case makes very clear that the decision has nothing to do with the merits of the case, nothing to do with the strength of the evidence or with the validity of the legal theories.

Instead, what it says essentially is that Mayor Adams is a political ally and he is expedient to the president pursuing his immigration agenda, and, for that reason, the charges should be dismissed, although it also says that the charges should be reevaluated following the November 25 mayoral election by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, the permanent U.S. attorney, when and if that person is sworn in, and that the charges should be dismissed without prejudice, meaning that they could be refiled at some later date.

And so that holds over Mayor Adams' head the possibility that the charges could be restarted if in fact he does not comport himself in a way that is viewed favorably by the president and the leadership of the Department of Justice.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Mayor Adams has repeatedly accused prosecutors of bringing the corruption charges against him for his criticisms of the Biden administration's immigration policies.

But just last month, the Southern District of New York attorney, Danielle Sassoon, defended her case, saying that they have — quote — "concrete evidence" of crimes. Her office declined to respond to a "News Hour" request about what may come next.

But, ultimately, what can happen to the Southern District of New York's reputation for independence here?

Jessica Roth:

Well, I think the reputation could take a very large hit here if in fact they carry through on this dismissal.

Now, to be clear, at the end of the day, it is up to the attorney general and his deputy whether or not the charges will be dismissed. The U.S. attorney's office will not be able to prevent that from happening, but I do think that it will take a reputational hit, depending on how this is handled before the judges in the Southern District of New York, who have for many decades placed a great deal of stock in the word of the U.S. attorney's office, including when the U.S. attorney says that they stand behind the case.

And because of these very clear political reasons for dismissing the case, I think that the Department of Justice as a whole is going to be viewed differently from the judges in the Southern District and elsewhere around the country, as we're seeing in many of these cases right now where the Department of Justice is standing up and taking positions that really go — fly in the face of the facts and the law in many cases and the tradition of prosecutorial independents.

Laura Barron-Lopez:

Jessica Roth, former federal prosecutor with the Southern District of New York, thank you for your time.

Jessica Roth:

Thank you.