(AFP) – Members of Donald Trump’s Justice Department were set to appear Wednesday before a federal judge to explain their extraordinary decision to drop corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams, a move that triggered multiple protest resignations. US District Judge Dale Ho, who is presiding over the case, ordered the Washington prosecutors to attend a 2:00 pm (1900 GMT) hearing in Manhattan to explain the reasons for dismissing the charges just months before the embattled mayor of America’s largest city was slated to go to trial.
In asking last week for the case against Adams to be dropped, acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said the prosecution was restricting the Democratic mayor’s “ability to devote full attention and resources to illegal immigration and violent crime.” The remarkable request prompted allegations that it was a quid pro quo in exchange for Adams agreeing to enforce Republican President Trump’s immigration crackdown — a claim the mayor denies. “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,” he said.
Adams, who pleaded not guilty in September to charges of fraud and bribery, is facing growing pressure to resign, as the suggestion that he is beholden to the Trump administration triggers widespread condemnation. On Monday, the head of New York’s city council called on the mayor — who is up for reelection in November, with the competitive Democratic primary in June — to step down, and four deputy mayors announced that they were resigning.
Governor Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams from office, met with “key leaders” on Tuesday to discuss what she called a “path forward with the goal of ensuring stability for the City of New York.” And city comptroller Brad Lander — who is also running for mayor — has threatened to invoke an untested, little-known lever of the City Charter allowing for convening an “inability committee” to remove a mayor unfit to lead the city. Whether he leaves office early or not, the ruckus appears to be dimming Adams’s chances at reelection, as polling increasingly suggests New Yorkers are fed up with him.
– ‘Fool’ or a ‘coward’ – Danielle Sassoon, a Trump appointee and acting US attorney in Manhattan, and assistant US attorney Hagan Scotten who brought the case against Adams, resigned last week along with several Justice Department officials in Washington to protest the order to dismiss the charges. Scotten, the lead prosecutor, in a blistering letter to Bove, said only a “fool” or a “coward” would comply with the Justice Department demand to drop the case.
In ordering Wednesday’s hearing, Judge Ho, citing previous rulings, noted that the government has “broad discretion” in deciding which cases to prosecute. But the court, in considering a request for dismissal, “must have sufficient factual information supporting the recommendation.” The Justice Department, which Trump has accused of unjustly prosecuting him, has been the target of a sweeping shakeup since the Republican took office and a number of high-ranking officials have been fired, demoted, or reassigned.
More than 800 former federal prosecutors released an open letter Monday condemning recent actions by Trump’s Justice Department that are not based on “the facts and the law” but appear intended “to serve solely political purposes.” Among those who signed the letter was Jack Smith, the former special counsel who brought two now-abandoned criminal cases against Trump — for conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden and for mishandling classified documents after leaving the White House.
– Maggy DONALDSON
© 2024 AFP
