Top Justice Department Official commands prosecutors to pick up charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams

New York (AP) – A top official of the US Department of Justice has ordered federal prosecutors to drop charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who has cultivated a warm relationship with President Donald Trump.

In a two-page memo obtained by Associated Press, acting Deputy Attorney Emil Bove said that the decision to reject the charges was reached without an assessment of the prosecution and was not intended to question the lawyers who filed the case.

But, Bove said that the time of the prosecutors and “recent actions” of the former US lawyer who led the office, Damian Williams, “has threatened the integrity of the procedure, including by increasing condemning trial rules that risk affecting potential witnesses and the jurisdiction.

Bove also wrote that the pending prosecution has “unnecessarily limited” Adams’ ability to “devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime escalated under the prior administration policy.”

The order of the Ministry of Justice requires the case to be rejected without reservation, which imaginable means that it could be remoned later.

The memo is a radical departure from long -standing norms for the Ministry of Justice, both in terms of the directive of rejecting an already allowed case that prosecutors had already regarded as deserving and because of its declared reason why a powerful defendant could be too possessed by official duties to face accountability for alleged crimes.

Public officials at the highest level of government are routinely investigated by the Ministry of Justice, including Trump, while president, without prosecutors making a claim that they should be released by the hook to take care of government service.

Williams did not immediately respond to a message requesting a comment.

A spokesman for the southern district of New York prosecutors who had been ordered to drop the charges, Nicholas Biase, refused to comment.

Developments come after months of speculation that Trump’s Ministry of Justice would take steps to end the criminal case against Adams accused of accepting bribery for free or reduced journey and illegal campaign contributions.

Trump had suggested the opportunity for a pardon in December and told journalists that the mayor had been “treated pretty unfair.” He had also claimed without providing evidence that Adams was persecuted for criticizing former President Joe Bite’s policy of immigration.

After Trump’s inauguration, Adams’ lawyers had approached officials in the senior department and asked them to intervene and drop the case.

Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, did not immediately return a request for comment. A Mayoral spokesman and a representative of his campaign did not return to queries.

After Adams were charged In September moved his tone on TrumpRanks some in his own party for his public praise for the Republican and his hardline immigration agenda.

Democrat chastized people who called Trump a fascist. While he was still saying he voted for Kamala Harris, Adams stopped saying the then vice president’s name at public events, except when they were passed by journalists.

Adams flew to Florida to meet with Trump on January 17th. Afterwards, he said the two men had not discussed his criminal case or the possibility of a pardon, but suggested that Trump’s agenda would be better for New York than former President Joe Biden’s.

“I look forward to the next four years of having a president who loves the city, as if I love this city,” Adams said the day after the meeting. He has refused to do something illegal, saying that the criticism of his overseas trips and deeply reduced first -class travels was unfair.

Trump, who was convicted last year of forgery by business registers to cover a HUSH money payment, has previously expressed solidarity at Adams.

“I know what it is like to be pursued by Doj, to speak against open borders,” Trump said in October in a Manhattan event that Adams attended. “We were persecuted, Eric. I was pursued and so are you, Eric. “

The criminal case against Adams involves accusations that he accepted illegal campaign contributions and lavish trips worth more than $ 100,000 – including expensive flight upgrades, luxury hotel stays and even a trip to a bathhouse – while serving in his previous job as Brooklyn Borough President .

The indictment said that a Turkish official who helped.

Prosecutors also said they had evidence that Adam’s personally instructed campaign employees to request foreign donations and then disguise these contributions to qualify for a city program that provides a generous, publicly funded match for small dollar donations. Foreign nationals are prohibited from contributing to US election campaigns under federal law.

Williams stepped down after Trump’s election victory. But as late as January 6, prosecutors had stated that their investigation remained active and wrote in court papers, that they continued to “reveal further criminal behavior from Adams.”

Federal agents had also examined other senior Adams helpers. Prior to the mayor’s indictment, federal authorities seized phones from a police commissioner, School Chancellor, Several Deputies Mayors and Mayor’s Director of Asian Affairs. Each of these officials refused wrongdoing, but has since withdrawn.

In December, Adams’ chief adviser and closest confidant, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, was accused By a state attorney – Manhattan District Attorney – on charges that she and her son accepted $ 100,000 in bribery related to real estate building projects.