3 top US prosecutors resign to drop Eric Adams Case: NPR

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This undated picture shows Danielle R. Sassoon, who resigned on Thursday as acting US lawyer for the southern district of New York. She was one of three federal prosecutors who retired over the Ministry of Justice's decision to drop the Eric Adams case.

This undated picture shows Danielle R. Sassoon, who resigned on Thursday as acting US lawyer for the southern district of New York. She was one of three federal prosecutors who retired over the Ministry of Justice’s decision to drop the Eric Adams case.

AP/US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York


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AP/US Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York

Three senior federal prosecutors resigned on Thursday in connection with the department’s decision to drop the criminal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Danielle Sassoon, the acting US lawyer for the southern district of New York, withdrew, a spokesman for the US law firm said. Her decision came three days after the management of the Ministry of Justice instructed her to drop the criminal corruption case against Adams.

Mayor Eric Adams has signaled a growing openness to collaborating with the Trump administration on immigration sweeps and other political initiatives. An American Ministry of Justice's memo called for criminal charges against Adams to be partially dropped so he could focus on dealing with undocumented migrants in New York City.

Sassoon, a veteran prosecutor who helped lead the prosecution and conviction of Sam Bankman-Fred, were appointed temporary US lawyer by the Trump administration last month.

Emil Bove, the acting No. 2 official at the Ministry of Justice, accepted Sassoon’s resignation and placed three assistant American lawyers who worked the case on leave pending according to a letter from Bove obtained by NPR.

A man wearing a suit and tie sits on a desk at the front of a courtroom with a legal pillow and pen in front of him.

“You lost the sight of the oath that you took when you started at the Ministry of Justice by suggesting that you keep an estimate to interpret the Constitution in a way that is incompatible with the policies of a democratically elected president and a Senate-affirmed legal lawyer , ”Book wrote in the letter.

One of the three assistant American lawyers placed on leave is Hagan ScottenA winner of the bronze star and a candidate from Harvard Law School, who previously was the clerk of Chief Justice John Roberts.

Later Torsn, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak in the post.

Adams was charged last year on corruption charges with a trial scheduled for April.

ONE The Ministry of Justice’s memo Published Monday called for federal charges against him to be cut off “without reservation.” Adams has long said he is innocent of any criminal offense.

In courts of law, His lawyers accused US lawyers By abusing the case, partly by leaking sensitive and privileged information to the media. The indictment Filed in September last year In the federal court in Manhattan, Adams claimed his official positions with New York City to exploit “illegal campaign contributions and luxury trips.”

A former official in the senior department, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak freely, called the fall of the Adams case, “The worst we’ve seen so far (from the new doj), and it’s a tall bar.” The former official said the idea of ​​dropping the Adams case in this way was “jaw who dropped, shocking.”