On Wednesday, a federal judge dismissed federal corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams, underscoring the prosecutorial power of the Trump administration.
In his ruling, the judge, Dale E. Ho of federal court in Manhattan, refused to allow the government to keep open the option of reinstating the charges, as the Justice Department had sought.
The New York Times reports:
The decision abruptly ended the long-running case weeks before it had been set for trial. It was also the culmination of a bitter clash between the prosecutors who indicted Mr. Adams and the officials at Mr. Trump’s Justice Department who killed the case.
The fight, in which Manhattan prosecutors and Justice Department officials accused each other of ethical misconduct, left Mr. Adams deeply damaged as he faces a steep uphill climb for re-election this year.
The Justice Department had moved to dismiss the charges against the mayor after the prosecutors who had brought the indictment refused to do so. One of the department’s highest-ranking officials offered a highly unusual justification, arguing that the case was compromising Mr. Adams’s ability to help enforce the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.
