OAN Staff James Meyers
9:55 AM – Tuesday, February 11, 2025
The Justice Department ordered prosecutors to dismiss the bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Monday, stating that the charges were politically motivated by the Biden administration and that they made it harder for him to combat the migrant crisis.
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a letter to the acting U.S. attorney of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) on Monday calling for the SDNY to drop the federal case against Mayor Adams (D-N.Y.).
In September, Adams was indicted on charges that included bribery, soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, conspiracy, and wire fraud. After the charges were filed against him, Adams pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In the memo sent, it reportedly cited President Donald Trump’s executive orders combating the weaponization of law enforcement and federal immigration policy.
“You are directed, as authorized by the Attorney General, to dismiss the pending charges in United States v. Adams…as soon as is practicable, subject to the following conditions: the defendant must agree in writing to dismissal without prejudice; the defendant must agree in writing that he is not a prevailing party under the Hyde Amendment…and the matter shall be reviewed by the confirmed U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, following the November 2025 mayoral election, based on consideration of all relevant factors,” Bove wrote in a memo.
“The Justice Department has reached this conclusion without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based, which are issues on which we defer to the U.S. Attorney’s Office at this time,” Bove continued. “Moreover, as I said during our recent meetings, this directive in no way calls into question the integrity and efforts of the line prosecutors responsible for the case, or your efforts in leading those prosecutors in connection with a matter you inherited.”
Bove added: “However, the Justice Department has determined that dismissal subject to the above-described conditions is necessary for two independent reasons.”
Bove also noted that the “timing of the charges and more recent public actions by the former U.S. Attorney responsible for initiating the case have threatened the integrity of the proceedings, including by increasing prejudicial pretrial publicity that risks impacting potential witnesses and the jury pool.”
“It cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior Administration’s immigration policies before the charges were filed, and the former U.S. Attorney’s public actions created appearances of impropriety that implicate the concerns raised in the Attorney General’s February 5, 2025 memorandum regarding ‘Restoring the Integrity and Credibility of the Department of Justice, as well as in Executive Order 14147, entitled ‘Ending the Weaponization of the federal government,’” Bove wrote.
“These actions and the underlying case have also improperly interfered with Mayor Adams’ campaign in the 2025 mayoral election,” he added.
However, Adams isn’t entirely safe yet, with Bove’s letter including that: “the matter shall be reviewed by the confirmed US Attorney in the Southern District of New York, following the November 2025 mayoral election.”
“There shall be no further targeting of Mayor Adams or additional investigative steps … and you are further directed to take all steps within your power to cause Mayor Adams’ security clearances to be restored,” he wrote.
Adams responded to the ruling on Monday, saying that he had little information about the matter.
“We were just notified of the possibility that the DOJ has communicated with the local US Attorney’s Office here,” Adams stated, according to a video posted on X. “I would like to speak to [my lawyer] first and get a better understanding of exactly what’s taking place now because right now I don’t have any information.”
The memo comes after Adams and top DOJ officials recently met with lawyers representing him at the DOJ.
Additionally, Adams met with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago estate just before his inauguration in January.
In December, Adams suggested that he was charged after speaking out against the Biden administration’s loose “catch and release” border policies, and how Biden’s liberal migrant policies were using up resources of the state — requesting more federal assistance from the government in order to meet the demand.
The latest ruling also comes after newly sworn-in Attorney General Pam Bondi established the Weaponization Work Group last week, which has the power to review all activities of law enforcement agencies over the past four years, revealing examples of “politicized justice” under the Biden administration.
Adams is expected to deliver a virtual address on Tuesday to discuss the dropped charges.
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