President Donald Trump‘s Department of Justice (DOJ) is grappling with mass resignations following the department’s push to drop New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption case, and the rebellion is being cheered by conservative attorney Ed Whelan.
Why It Matters
Earlier this week, the DOJ moved to drop bribery charges brought against Adams last year, citing concerns that the ongoing case was compromising the Democratic mayor’s ability to assist the Trump administration with its crackdown on illegal immigration and November’s mayoral election.
The move caused fierce criticism by some who saw it as a quid pro quo. Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon and several other DOJ officials have resigned, refusing to comply with the DOJ’s order to dismiss Adams’ charges.
Adams denied allegations of a quid pro quo in a Fox & Friends interview alongside Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan on Friday, calling them “silly.” The mayor also reiterated his support for going after “dangerous people” on the streets of New York City, which he said he’s been talking about since 2022. In a statement released Friday, Adams went on to say that he has “never offered — nor did anyone offer on my behalf — any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case. Never.”
The DOJ has also denied offering a dismissal of criminal charges for Adams’ help with immigration enforcement.
Newsweek reached out to the DOJ via online form for comment on Friday.
What To Know
Hagan Scotten, lead prosecutor in Adams’ corruption case, was among those who quit following the DOJ’s order, and he did not hold back in his resignation letter sent on Friday.
“Any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way,” Scotten, assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, wrote.
He added: “If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to me.”
Whelan, a distinguished senior fellow and Antonin Scalia chair in constitutional studies at the Ethics & Public Policy Center, wrote in the National Review on Friday that Scotten “should get a prize for Awesome Resignation Letter.”
Who Is Scotten?
Scotten is a Harvard Law School graduate. He was awarded two bronze stars as a troop commander while serving in Iraq. He has also handled several high-profile corruption cases in New York, including against three associates of former Mayor Rudy Giuliani and against Bishop Lamor Whitehead. Scotten was also previously a clerk for Chief Justice John Roberts.
Details of Adams’ Case
Adams was indicted in September on charges of bribery, fraud and illegal solicitation of campaign contributions, dating to his days as Brooklyn Borough president, a position he was elected to in 2014. He was accused of accepting more than $100,000 in luxury travel gifts and campaign contributions from foreign businesspeople and at least one Turkish official, as well as pressuring the New York City Fire Department to open a consulate in New York without a fire inspection. Adams has denied all allegations leveled against him.
The DOJ’s decision to push for Adams’ charges to be dropped was outlined in a two-page memo by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who said the dismissal was not based on the strength of evidence but on the timing of the charges. The memo instructed New York prosecutors to cease further investigative actions until after the November election, leaving the door open for revisiting the case later.
Sassoon said that at a meeting in late January—attended by Manhattan federal prosecutors, DOJ lawyers and Adams’ lawyers, per The New York Times—the mayor’s attorneys offered “what amounted to a quid pro quo.”
Bove wrote in a footnote in Monday’s order that he said at the meeting that “the government is not offering to exchange dismissal of a criminal case for Adams’ assistance on immigration enforcement.”
What People Are Saying
Eric Columbus, former senior counsel to the deputy attorney general for the administration of former President Barack Obama, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday: “This is an incredible resignation letter from SDNY prosecutor Hagan Scotten. It’s the type of thing you show your kids as an example of how to be.”
What Happens Next
Reuters reported on Friday, citing sources with knowledge of the matter, that federal prosecutor Ed Sullivan agreed to dismiss the charges against Adams to spare his colleagues from potentially being fired for refusing to obey the DOJ’s order.
Update 2/14/25, 8:55 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
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