Seven former top Manhattan federal prosecutors, including several who served under Republican presidents, issued a statement Friday praising Danielle R. Sassoon’s decision to resign rather than obey an order to seek dismissal of corruption charges against New York City’s mayor.
“Her commitment to integrity and the rule of law reflects the finest traditions of the Southern District United States attorney’s office and the Department of Justice,” they said.
The prosecutors’ leadership of the Southern District, which is widely seen as the nation’s most prestigious U.S. attorney’s office, dates back nearly half a century. They oversaw trials involving terrorism, Wall Street fraud, the mafia and Russian espionage.
The Southern District has a reputation for independence and for fending off interference from officials in Washington. The Justice Department’s attempt to stop it from prosecuting Mayor Eric Adams has mightily tested that norm.
The seven former Southern District U.S. attorneys include Mary Jo White, the first woman to hold the post, and who served from 1993 to 2002; and Robert B. Fisk, who served from 1976 to 1980.
In their statement, the former U.S. attorneys sharply criticized the Justice Department’s intention to investigate Ms. Sassoon and some of the career prosecutors who served alongside her. They called the prospect of such investigations “a stark departure from those traditions that should concern everyone committed to the pursuit of justice without fear or favor.”
In a letter to Ms. Sassoon on Thursday, Emil Bove III, the deputy attorney general, said the investigations would be carried out by the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the office of the attorney general, under a new executive order by Mr. Trump titled “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government”
The other former U.S. attorneys who signed the letter were John S. Martin Jr., James B. Comey, David N. Kelley, Geoffrey Berman and Audrey Strauss .
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