Adams Denies Alleged Deal With DOJ to Drop Corruption Case

“I want to be crystal clear with New Yorkers: I never offered—nor did anyone offer on my behalf—any trade of my authority as your mayor for an end to my case. Never,” Adams said in a statement. “I am solely beholden to the 8.3 million New Yorkers that I represent and I will always put this city first.”

Adams’s statement came in response to a claim made in a resignation letter from Danielle Sassoon, the now former acting Manhattan’s U.S. attorney who quit after refusing a request from Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to drop the criminal corruption case against Adams.

Sassoon alleged that, during a Jan. 31 meeting, Adams’s attorneys “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo” arrangement whereby the mayor would assist with the Trump administration’s enforcement priorities with regard to illegal immigrants in New York City “only if the indictment were dismissed.”

Prosecutors indicted Adams in October 2024, accusing him of accepting over $100,000 in campaign contributions and luxury gifts from foreign nationals in exchange for political favors. Adams has denied the allegations, which include bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and falsifying financial records.

After Sassoon’s resignation, the Department of Justice (DOJ) formally moved to dismiss the case on Feb. 14 but without prejudice, meaning the charges could be refiled at a later date.

A number of other DOJ officials followed Sassoon in tendering their resignations rather than complying with Bove’s order to dismiss the corruption case against Adams.

Bove, a former lawyer who represented President Donald Trump in several cases and previously worked at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, on Feb. 10 directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to dismiss the charges against Adams. He alleged prosecutorial mishandling of the case, as well as concerns about the case’s impact on Adams’s ability to govern as mayor and assist in federal immigration enforcement efforts.

In a letter accepting Sassoon’s resignation, Bove also called the case against Adams politically motivated, stating that the investigation was “accelerated after Mayor Adams publicly criticized President Biden’s failed immigration policies.”

Meanwhile, Adams on Feb. 13 announced he would allow federal immigration officials to operate at the city’s Rikers Island jail and help the Trump administration arrest and deport illegal immigrants with criminal records of violent offenses. He made the announcement following a closed-door meeting with Tom Homan, who is Trump’s point man on the illegal immigration crackdown. Adams’s announcement signaled a shift in New York City’s sanctuary policies, which have impeded immigration enforcement efforts.

Homan appeared on “Fox & Friends” alongside Adams on Feb. 14, commending Adams for granting access to Rikers, a move Homan described as a “game changer.” He added that he and Adams were working on other initiatives, although he declined to provide specifics, citing concerns that the city council would try to block it.