Acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove has ordered federal prosecutors in New York to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, a senior Justice Department official said Monday evening.
The order is for all charges against Adams to be dismissed, and the dismissal is without prejudice, the official said, meaning charges could be refiled in the future.
The charges have not yet been dismissed, and federal prosecutors in New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment Monday night.
A formal dismissal request would be filed in court by prosecutors overseen by Danielle R. Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, where the charges were brought. A motion to dismiss would also be reviewed by a judge.
Adamsâ attorney Alex Spiro called the planned dismissal a victory. âAs I said from the outset, the mayor is innocent â and he would prevail. Today he has,â Spiro said in a statement.
In a memo, Bove argued that the indictment of Adams in September came too close to this year’s mayoral primary in June and that it limited Adams’ ability to aid President Donald Trump’s crackdown on immigrants and to fight crime.
Bove said Adams’ case would be reviewed by a new Trump-appointed U.S. attorney after the general election for mayor in November.
Bove, without citing specific evidence, also suggested that the charges were politically motivated. âIt cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior Administrationâs immigration policies before the charges were filed,” Bove wrote.
Professor Stephen Gillers, an expert on legal ethics at New York University Law School, rejected Boveâs explanation.
âAlthough dressed up as a concern for appearances and despite his disclaimer,” Gillers said, “Boveâs memo is really a baseless and offensive slur against the former U.S. attorney and the lawyers who worked on the Adams case at the premier federal prosecutorial office in the nation.â
The office also prosecuted Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez of New Jersey, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison last month after he was convicted of bribery, obstruction of justice and other charges.
The indictments of Adams and Menendez, two prominent Democratic elected officials, during the 2024 presidential election cycle were generally seen as political blows to the Democratic Party. And the fact that charges could be filed against Adams again could make him beholden to the Trump administration.
A federal law enforcement official called the order to withdraw the charges âhorrificâ and âjust transparent corruption.â
The indictment accused him of taking $100,000 worth of free plane tickets and luxury hotel stays from wealthy Turkish nationals and at least one government official in a nearly decadelong corruption scheme.
Adams has pleaded not guilty. He has said that he is innocent, that the charges are politically motivated and that he would fight the charges.
Trump suggested on Dec. 16 that he would consider pardoning Adams, saying that Adams “was treated pretty unfairlyâ and that he would need to see the case, âbecause I donât know the facts.â
Adams met with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, days before Trump was inaugurated as president. He said they discussed a number of topics but âdid not discuss my legal case.â Adams later attended Trumpâs inauguration.
An attorney for Adams contacted Justice Department leadership late last month about dropping the criminal case.
Adams was elected Brooklyn Borough president in 2013 before he was elected mayor of New York. Damian Williams, the Biden-appointed U.S. attorney who brought the charges, said Adams was alleged to have been taking bribes and soliciting illegal campaign contributions dating to his time as the borough president.
Adams ran for mayor on a platform of fighting crime, beating Republican candidate Curtis Sliwa, who founded the 1970s-era anti-crime patrol the Guardian Angeles.
Williams announced his resignation in December after Trump won the election.
In announcing criminal charges, Williams had said Adams allowed a Manhattan skyscraper to open without a fire inspection as part of the alleged bribery scheme.
âAdams put the interests of his benefactors, including a foreign official, above those of his constituents,â Williams said at the time.
Spiro, Adams’ attorney, said Monday that “the mayor never used his official position for personal benefit. Nor did he have any role in violating campaign finance laws.”