The U.S. Department of Justice filed court paperwork Friday to dismiss federal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, after two days of resignations from prosecutors who refused to do so.
The filing does not immediately end the high-profile case. A federal court judge must approve the decision to drop the charges.
According to two former DOJ officials, both of whom remain in contact with lawyers at the department, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove convened a meeting with the remaining lawyers in the Public Integrity Section Friday morning in order to determine who would sign the motion to dismiss Adams’ case. Both officials told NBC News that Bove expressly promised leadership positions to those who agreed to sign and file it.
The meeting was described as a video call during which Bove gave them a deadline of one hour to provide two names, a source told NBC News.
According to three former DOJ lawyers, all of whom are in touch with current department lawyers, the motion to dismiss Adams case was signed by a trial attorney with the Public Integrity Section who is nearing retirement.
The motion seeking dismissal without prejudice — meaning the case could potentially be prosecuted in the future — was filed Friday evening.
The court paperwork comes after the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, quit on Thursday after she received similar orders from Bove to dismiss the case against the mayor. She refused, and in a letter to newly minted U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, urged her to reconsider directive to dismiss, which she wrote “raises serious concerns that render the contemplated dismissal inconsistent with my ability and duty to prosecute federal crimes without fear or favor and to advance good-faith arguments before the courts.”
Bove’s memo said federal prosecutors needed to drop the case in part because it impacted Adams’ ability to tackle “illegal immigration and violent crime.”
In her letter to Bondi, Sassoon said Adams’ attorneys in a meeting with the DOJ in January essentially proposed a “quid pro quo.”
“I attended a meeting on January 31, 2025, with Mr. Bove, Adams’ counsel, and members of my office. Adams’s attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. Mr. Bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting’s conclusion,” Sassoon.
Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, denied Sassoon’s recounting of the meeting and her allegation of a “quid pro quo” proposal.
“The idea that there was a quid pro quo is a total lie. We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us,” Spiro said in a statement to NBC New York. “I don’t know what ‘amounted to’ means. We were asked if the case had any bearing on national security and immigration enforcement and we truthfully answered it did.”
In a statement Friday, Mayor Adams also rejected the notion.
“I want to be crystal clear with New Yorkers: I never offered — nor did anyone offer on my behalf — any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case. Never,” the mayor’s statement read in part. Adams also said he was “solely beholden” to the city’s residents’ whom he urged to “put this difficult episode behind us so that trust can be restored.”
Sassoon also said in the letter that her office was preparing to file additional charges against Adams “based on evidence that Adams destroyed and instructed others to destroy evidence and provide false information to the FBI.”
Spiro dismissed that allegation as well, saying if prosecutors had proof the mayor destroyed evidence, they would have brought those charges, slamming her claim as “the parting shot of a prosecution exposed as a sham.”
In a tersely worded letter to the DOJ, an assistant U.S. attorney with the SDNY who worked on the Adams case also resigned from his position less than a day after Sassoon, according to an email shared with NBC New York.
Hagan Scotten wrote to Bove on Friday, saying he was never asked by Sassoon to dismiss the Adams case “and I therefore never had an opportunity to refuse. But I am entirely in agreement her decision not to do so.” Bove had placed Scotten on leave on Thursday, after Sassoon said in her letter that the prosecution team agreed with her decision not to comply with Bove’s order.
When the Southern District of New York refused to drop the case, it was reassigned to the Public Integrity Section, two sources told NBC News. John Keller, the acting head of the section, refused to drop the case and resigned, along with two other members of the section, according to sources. Kevin Driscoll, the acting head of the Criminal Division, which oversees federal criminal cases nationwide, also refused to drop the charges before resigning, sources said.
In all, five other high-ranking Justice Department officials resigned Thursday in addition to Sassoon, a stunning escalation in a dayslong standoff over accusations the Trump administration is prioritizing political aims over criminal culpability.
Adams had pleaded not guilty to the charges and has denied any wrongdoing, saying the case was politically motivated. A number of New York Democrats have started calling for the mayor to step down or be removed by Gov. Kathy Hochul, including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, State Sen. Michael Gianaris, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane Williams, and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.
New York Attorney General said on Friday that there are “discussions going on on the state level, a number of discussions going on on the local level, and private discussions” regarding Adams. She added that she did not want to comment further until talks are over “and we determine the fate of the mayor of the City of New York.”
Hochul has said she’s weighing her options, including her constitutional authority to remove the mayor.
“This just happened. I need some time to figure out the right approach,” the governor said Thursday night.
Other state lawmakers acknowledged that even if the governor acts, it could take time.
“A removal is not as simple as snapping her fingers. There is a process and opportunity for the person being removed to be heard,” said State Sen. Michael Gianaris.
Bove said the Justice Department will now take over the Adams case from the SDNY.
“I take no pleasure in imposing these measures, initiating investigations, and requiring personnel from the Justice Department to come to your District to do work that your team should have done and was required to do,” Bove said.
Asked by reporters Thursday whether he asked that the charges be dismissed, President Donald Trump said, “No, I didn’t. I know nothing about it.”
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