The US Justice Department has ordered Manhattan prosecutors to drop the criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, who is accused of corruption, the New York Times reported.
“You are ordered to dismiss the charges against Adams”, says a letter obtained by the newspaper and signed by Acting Deputy Attorney General Emile Bove. He also ordered the restoration of Adams' security clearance, which the New York mayor was stripped of after he was indicted in September 2024. Bove also requested "no further action be taken in the investigation". against Adams until the city's mayoral election, scheduled for November 2025.
„I have said from the beginning that the mayor is innocent and will win. „He did it today“, Adams' lawyer Alex Spiro told the publication.
In late January, The New York Times reported that senior Justice Department officials were discussing the possibility of dropping the case against Adams with his lawyers and federal prosecutors in Manhattan. The publication notes that Adams has recently been trying to curry favor with US President Donald Trump: he met with him in Florida, attended the inauguration, promised not to criticize the president publicly, and also regularly communicated with him by phone.
On September 26, 2024, federal prosecutors charged Adams with corruption. The prosecutor's statement alleged that the mayor accepted bribes and illegal campaign contributions, including from foreign sources. As reported by The New York Times, the politician may have received illegal donations from Turkish government officials in 2021. The New York mayor has denied any wrongdoing and insisted that his election campaign was conducted in full compliance with American law.