As the U.S. Justice Department moves to drop the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, he has reiterated his innocence in court.
During a hearing on Wednesday, Adams told a federal judge that he is not guilty and is unconcerned about the possibility of charges being refiled if the Justice Department’s request for dismissal is granted.
Judge Dale E. Ho sought confirmation from Adams that he understood the charges could be reinstated at a later date.
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“Yes, your honor,” Adams responded.
When asked again to ensure he grasped the implications, Adams remained firm. “I have not committed a crime,” he stated. “I’m not afraid of that.”
Deputy U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove defended the request to dismiss the charges, citing it as “a straightforward exercise in prosecutorial discretion” based on President Donald Trump’s executive order addressing the alleged weaponization of the justice system. He argued that, when considered alongside Attorney General Pam Bondi’s memorandum, the decision was “virtually unreviewable in this courtroom.”
Bove further contended that continuing the prosecution would interfere with national security and immigration enforcement initiatives.
The hearing was scheduled after three Trump administration lawyers, including Bove, filed a motion to dismiss the case. Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor resigned in protest after refusing to comply with the order.
Judge Ho signaled that the hearing was unlikely to resolve the issue entirely, noting in a Tuesday order that a key topic of discussion would be the “procedure for resolution of the motion.”
The indictment accuses Adams, a first-term Democrat, of accepting over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and luxury travel perks from Turkish officials and business leaders while serving as Brooklyn borough president. He has pleaded not guilty and faces multiple challengers in the upcoming Democratic primary.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul is closely monitoring the case and is reportedly considering whether to remove Adams from office amid concerns that he may have struck a deal with Trump to secure the case’s dismissal in exchange for political loyalty.
Last week, Bove instructed prosecutors in New York to drop the charges, arguing that the case had “unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to illegal immigration and violent crime.” He indicated that the charges could be reinstated after November’s mayoral election.
Two days later, then-interim U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon pushed back in a letter to Bondi, asserting that dismissing the charges in exchange for Adams’ cooperation on immigration enforcement would contradict Bondi’s own stated commitment to preventing abuses of the justice system.
“Dismissal of the indictment for no other reason than to influence Adams’ mayoral decision-making would be all three,” Sassoon, a Republican, wrote, referring to coercion, misconduct, and abuse of process. She also revealed that prosecutors were preparing additional obstruction of justice charges against Adams.
After Sassoon resigned in protest, Bove accused her of pursuing a politically motivated prosecution despite explicit instructions to dismiss the case. He suspended two other prosecutors involved in the case and announced an investigation into their conduct.
Hagan Scotten, another prosecutor, resigned the following day, calling Bove’s order “politically motivated” and stating in his resignation letter that it would take “a fool or a coward” to comply with the directive—“but it was never going to be me.”
By Friday, seven prosecutors, including five senior officials at the Justice Department, had stepped down.
Shortly before Wednesday’s hearing, Bondi’s chief of staff, Chad Mizelle, took to social media to defend the Justice Department’s decision, arguing that the prosecution’s broad interpretation of public corruption laws was unlikely to hold up before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The case against Mayor Adams was just one in a long history of past DOJ actions that represent grave errors of judgment,” Mizelle posted on X.
Sassoon and her colleagues have since gained support from a network of former prosecutors.
On Friday, seven former U.S. attorneys in Manhattan, including James Comey, Geoffrey S. Berman, and Mary Jo White, released a statement commending Sassoon’s commitment to the rule of law.
On Monday, three former U.S. attorneys from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut urged Judge Ho to appoint a special prosecutor if he determined that the Justice Department acted improperly or to ensure that all evidence be made available to state and local prosecutors.
READ ALSO: Justice Department to dismiss federal corruption case against NYC Mayor Eric Adams
Separately, a former Watergate prosecutor filed court papers recommending that the judge reject the government’s request and consider appointing a special counsel to investigate the legal implications of the case.
Meanwhile, Justice Connection, an advocacy group for Justice Department employees, released a letter signed by more than 900 former prosecutors, warning that fundamental principles of fairness and justice were being put to the test.
On Tuesday, Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, sent a letter to the judge rejecting any notion of a corrupt deal.
“There was no quid pro quo. Period,” Spiro wrote.
