These are the charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams: Why does the Justice Department want them dropped?

In September 2024, New York City Mayor Eric Adams was charged with crimes related to campaign contributions from foreign nationals, wire fraud, bribery, and solicitation of campaign contributions from foreign nationals. Altogether, the five counts hold a combined maximum prison sentence of forty years. The charges are the result of an investigation into Adams’ dealings with Turkish nationals, who investigators accuse of engaging in a pay-for-play scheme where campaign donations and gifts were made to the New York City mayor for political favors. The favors are alleged to have ranged from favorable treatment in real estate dealings to avoiding comments that contradict Turkey’s foreign policy interests.

Adams, a Democrat, has turned to President Donald Trump for help making his legal troubles go away, accusing his own party of weaponizing the judiciary against him for bucking the party line. The president, who seems to have evaded the numerous criminal charges lodged his way, which he blames on political persecution, has shown sympathy for Adams’ predicament.

In a memo obtained by the Associated Press, prosecutors are ordered to drop the charges against New York City’s mayor. The letter was authored by the Department’s acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, who argued that the prosecution team did not have sufficient evidence for the charges that had been brought. The wording keeps the door open that the charges could be revised and the mayor could be recharged, but many within the Department see it as a shameless attempt to do Donald Trump’s bidding for his friends in the political world.

Trump’s message to Eric Adams: “We were persecuted, Eric. I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric.”

One need look no further than public comments from both Adams and Trump, who met at Mar-a-Lago on January 17—days before the inauguration. However, even before his election, the two New Yorkers showed their affection for one another. At an event in October, Trump said he identified with Adams because he knew “what it’s like to be persecuted by the DoJ, for speaking out against open borders.”

Adams took to social media after his meeting with the then-incoming president, saying he was “looking forward to the next four years of having a president that loves the city like I love this city.”

“We were persecuted, Eric. I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric.”

Donald Trump, US President

Adams took to social media after his meeting with the then-incoming president, saying he was “looking forward to the next four years of having a president that loves the city like I love this city.” Adams, who was elected in 2022, made it clear that he will not resign before his term is over, even as many of his closest political allies and appointees have been charged by the DoJ as well. Interestingly, these individuals do not seem to be escaping the long arm of the law, and if Adams is really innocent, his proximity to these other corruption cases raises a new set of questions.

Fall out at the Justice Department

As a result of the directives from Brov, the acting US Attorney for SDNY, Danielle Sassoona, sent a letter to US Attorney General Pam Bondi on Wednesday, February 12, informing the newly confirmed head of the Justice Department that she will tender her resignation if she is required to drop the charges against Adams.

Brov, not Bondi, responded to Sassoona’s letter on Thursday, accepting her resignation, basing his description on the prosecutor’s perceptive “choice to continue pursuing a politically motivated prosecution despite an express instruction to dismiss the case.” The letter also confirms the intention of the Department to take on Adam’s prosecution, at which point they “will file a motion to dismiss the charges pursuant to Rule 48 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.”

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