A federal judge on Wednesday questioned a top Justice Department official who is seeking to dismiss corruption charges against embattled New York Mayor Eric Adams, a move that has led to the resignations of eight prosecutors.
U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho did not make a decision at the 90-minute hearing after he instructed both parties to be prepared to discuss why the case should or should not be dismissed.
Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, told Ho he was concerned that proceeding with the case would interfere with national security and immigration issues.
“What is set forth here is my conclusion that this case, as a matter of prosecutorial discretion, should not proceed because it reflects, at minimum, appearances of impropriety that give cause for concern about abuse of the criminal justice process,” Bove said.
He added: “I don’t think there is anything particularly exotic about it.”
Ho pressed Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, about by then-interim U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon’s suggestions that the dismissal attempt was part of a quid pro quo deal with the Trump White House.
“It never happened,” Spiro responded, adding, “I’m happy to raise my right hand now” and testify that there was no quid pro quo agreement with prosecutors that Adams would deliver on immigration issues for the Trump administration in exchange for dismissing the charges without prejudice.
Spiro gestured his hand up as he bucked the allegations of a quid pro quo arrangement between the Trump administration and his client.
Ho began the hearing by asking Adams whether he understood the terms of the agreement, including that he could still be indicted in the future. Adams said he did and told the judge that he had not committed a crime.
Ho’s questions focused on the legal rationale that guided the government’s motion to dismiss the case. Bove said that the indictment had cost Adams his security clearance and that to proceed with the case would prohibit Adams from speaking with the U.S. attorney’s office about immigration and other issues of importance to President Donald Trump.
Ho also asked Bove whether he was aware of other instances in which the Justice Department had sought to dismiss a case for national security concerns involving an elected official. Bove, who was alone at the prosecution table, said he was unaware of another case in which a public official was at the center of the issue.
Ho indicated he’d make a decision soon, saying at the end of the hearing that “it’s not in anyone’s interest here for this to drag on.”
“I’m not going to shoot from the hip right here on the bench,” Ho said. “I want to make sure that I consider everything appropriate, and that I don’t consider anything inappropriate, and make a reasoned decision that is mindful of my role, which I understand here is quite narrow.”
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Outside court Wednesday, ahead of the hearing, a crowd had gathered, chanting, “We don’t need a MAGA mayor. Adams out now,” and “Hey, hey, ho, ho. Eric Adams’ got to go.”
Meanwhile, a large group of supporters — carrying “Eric Adams for Mayor” campaign flyers — also showed up, hugging and shaking hands with Adams. He gave a thumbs up and said “it’s all part of the process” in response to reporters’ questions ahead of the hearing.
Adams was indicted in September on five counts, including bribery, fraud and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.
Adams, a Democrat who is seeking re-election this year, has faced increased scrutiny and calls to resign. Those voices grew louder last week when Bove ordered federal prosecutors to set the case aside because, he said, the indictment came too close to June’s mayoral primary and hampered Adams’ ability to tackle “illegal immigration and violent crime.”
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Bove’s order prompted a clash among government lawyers and led to the resignations of several top prosecutors who refused to seek dismissal, including Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, whom Trump had appointed to oversee the office on an interim basis.
Sassoon wrote in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi last week that her office was preparing to file an additional charge against Adams, alleging he had destroyed evidence and instructed others to do the same. Sassoon said Adams’ attorneys had offered the White House a quid pro quo to assist in Trump’s immigration crackdown in return for having the charges dropped.
“It is a breathtaking and dangerous precedent to reward Adams’s opportunistic and shifting commitments on immigration and other policy matters with dismissal of a criminal indictment,” she wrote.
Adams’ lawyer, Spiro, said afterward that the suggestion “there was a quid pro quo is a total lie.”
“We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us,” he said in a statement.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul raised the prospect of removing Adams after four of his top deputies resigned Monday because of the push to end his corruption case in apparent exchange for his cooperation with Trump’s mass deportation agenda.
Hochul noted that removal powers have never been used against a sitting mayor in the state’s history and said that “overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly.”
“That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored,” she said in a statement.
Hochul, a Democrat, met Tuesday to discuss “the path forward” with City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who has called on the mayor to resign; the Rev. Al Sharpton; and City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is also running for mayor.
She also spoke with Democratic Rep. Gregory Meeks, Queens Borough President Donovan Richards and about a dozen pastors and business and union leaders.
Sharpton, leader of the National Action Network and an MSNBC host, said after his meeting with Hochul that she had not decided on a course of action yet and planned to wait for the outcome of Wednesday’s hearing.
“My feeling is that the faith of the people of the city has been shaken and there needs to be a resolve, but at the same time we must protect the law and not establish a precedent that could come back to haunt us,” he said.
Among the New York Democrats who have called on Adams to resign are Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Nydia Velázquez and Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado.
Adams has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted more than $100,000 in free plane tickets and luxury hotel stays from wealthy Turkish nationals and at least one government official. He has said the corruption charges are politically motivated.
Bove, the second-in-command at the Justice Department, said a new Trump-appointed U.S. attorney would review Adams’ case after the mayoral election in November.
More than 850 former federal prosecutors have signed a letter of support to current federal prosecutors after last week’s resignations, according to a copy of the letter obtained by NBC News. In the letter, the former prosecutors said that they have “watched with alarm” as values “foundational to a fair and justice legal system” have been tested in the past week.
