Three top federal prosecutors resign after refusing to drop Adam’s accusations

The top federal charges in New York and two senior federal prosecutors in Washington have withdrawn after refusing to follow a Ministry of Justice’s order to drop corruption taxes against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, several officials said on Thursday.

The resignation constitutes a fantastic public reprimand of the new Justice Department management of the Trump administration. The resignation comes three days after Emil Bove, the acting US Deputy Attorney General, issued a memo that ordered federal prosecutors in New York to drop the case against Adams partly because it inhibited his ability to tackle “illegal immigration and violent crime.”

Danielle R. Sassoon, the acting US lawyer for the southern district of New York, announced his resignation in a short statement to colleagues who do not refer to the Directive of the Ministry of Justice on Adams, the senior official said.

After her office refused to drop the charges, officials of the Ministry of Justice tried to move the case to the agency’s public integrity section of Washington, which oversees all federal public corruption cases, several sources said.

John Keller, the acting leader of the Public Integrity section, then retired after also refusing to drop the Adams case, said two sources.

Kevin Driscoll, the acting head of the department’s criminal department, who oversees federal criminal cases nationwide, also refused to drop the charges and withdrew.

After Sassoon informed Bove of her resignation, Bove sent her a blistering 8-page letter in which he blasted her rejection of immediately dropping the case. Bove also placed at least two other federal prosecutors in New York who worked on the case of leave, according to a copy of the letter obtained by NBC News.

“The Ministry of Justice will not tolerate insubordination and apparent mismatch reflected in the approach that you and your office have taken in this case,” Bove wrote. “Your office’s insubordination is a little more than a preference to avoid a duty that you consider unpleasant and politically impractical.”

Sassoon that took over the office last month, is A respected prosecutor with conservative credentials. Best known for successfully prosecuting the crypto-whiz-kid-facing outlets Sam Bankman Fried, she was a member of the Federalist Society and held the official of the deceased justice Antonin Scalia, who was one of the US Supreme Court’s most influential conservatives.

It was not immediately clear who would take over the office, sometimes called the “sovereign district of New York” for its independent strip.

Adams, a former New York Political Captain, elected Mayor in 2021, was indicted in an indictment that was not sealed in September with a count of conspiracy to receive campaign contributions from foreign nationals and commit wiring fraud and bribery, two counts to request Campaign contributions from foreign nationals and one count of request and acceptance of bribery.

The indictment accused him of taking $ 100,000 worth of free airline tickets and luxury hotel reside from wealthy Turkish citizens and at least one government official for an almost decade -long corruption scheme.

Adams has not pleaded guilty. He has insisted that he is innocent and argued that the charges are politically motivated.

In his February 10 -Memo, which ordered the Adams case to be dropped, Bove suggested that the case be political. It cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the former administration’s immigration policy before the charges were filed, “Bove wrote.

There is no evidence of suggesting that the charges were pursued for that reason.

When the indictment against Adams was frail, James Donhy, the assistant director who was responsible for the FBI’s New York field office, called the prosecutors “a prickly reminder that no one is above the law or without reproach” and “a sober moment for all of us, that puts our confidence in chosen officials.