Several prosecutors – including the top US attorney in Manhattan – have resigned after the Justice Department directed the New York office to drop a corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
It was first announced on Thursday that Danielle Sassoon, a conservative lawyer recently promoted by President Donald Trump, had resigned after refusing to dismiss the case, a move she said would set a “breathtaking and dangerous precedent”.
Her departure was followed by the resignations of at least five other top justice department officials.
It marked the latest signs of disquiet over sweeping changes the Trump administration is making in federal law enforcement.
In an indictment last September, Adams is alleged to have accepted gifts totalling more than $100,000 (£75,000) from Turkish citizens in exchange for favours. He denies the charges.
The case was initially brought by officials appointed by former President Joe Biden.
But on Monday, a Trump appointee, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, ordered Sassoon and New York prosecutors to drop the case, saying it “restricted” the mayor’s ability to address “illegal immigration and violent crime” – a key goal of Trump’s administration.
Bove did not address the merits of the case and noted that the justice department would reserve the right to reinstitute the charges after New York City’s mayoral election in November.
Sassoon refused to drop the case, however, setting out her reasoning in a letter to Bove’s boss, Attorney General Pam Bondi, on Thursday and saying she saw no “good faith” reason for dropping the case.
“Because the law does not support a dismissal, and because I am confident that Adams has committed the crimes with which he is charged, I cannot agree to seek a dismissal driven by improper considerations,” she wrote.
Sassoon said her office held a meeting with Bove and lawyers for Adams on 31 January in which the mayor’s representatives offered “what amounted to a quid pro quo”, saying Adams would be able to help with administration policies “only if the indictment were dismissed”.
Alex Spiro, a lawyer for Adams, denied that there was any deal tying immigration enforcement with the dropping of the case.
He said in a statement: “The idea that there was a quid pro quo [with the Trump administration] is a total lie. We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us.”
In a letter accepting her resignation, Bove accused Sassoon of attempting to “continue pursuing a politically motivated prosecution despite an express instruction to dismiss the case”.
He also said that other prosecutors who worked on the Adams case would be placed on leave and would be subject to an internal investigation – and that Sassoon would be investigated as well.
Five other justice department prosecutors resigned on Thursday: John Keller, acting head of the public corruption unit, and Kevin Driscoll, a senior official in the department’s criminal division.
Later on Thursday, US media outlets reported three additional prosecutors with the justice department’s corruption unit also resigned.
Sassoon, 38, joined the federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan in 2016 and was part of the team that prosecuted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Mayor Adams, a Democrat, has expressed a willingness to work with the Trump administration when it comes to the president’s hardline immigration policy. On Thursday, after a meeting with Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan, the mayor agreed that immigration officials could re-establish an office at the city’s Rikers Island jail.
In a statement, Adams said: “I want to work with the new federal administration, not war with them, to find common ground and make better the lives of New Yorkers.”
The New York mayor met with Trump in Florida days before his inauguration, and then attended his swearing-in ceremony on 20 January. Adams denied at the time that he discussed his legal issues with the incoming president.
On Thursday, Trump told reporters that he had not asked for the case against Adams to be dropped.
However, Bove’s letter described his instructions to drop the case as “direct orders implementing the policy of a duly elected President”.
Adams was indicted last autumn on charges of wire fraud, bribery, and receiving campaign contributions from foreigners.
According to a 57-page indictment, the mayor allegedly accepted hotel stays, lavish meals and airline upgrades from Turkish nationals beginning in 2016, when he was president of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.
In one instance, Adams is alleged to have paid $600 for a two-night stay at a luxury hotel in Istanbul, a visit that was valued at approximately $7,000.
He has pleaded not guilty and denies any wrongdoing.
