The United States Department of Justice ordered federal prosecutors to dismiss corruption charges against the mayor of New York City, Eric Adams.
The Department of Justice ordered federal prosecutors on Monday to dismant Mayor to help the president in his repression against illegal immigration.
In a two -page memorandum obtained by The Associated Pressthe Undersecretary of Interim Justice, Emil Bove, told prosecutors in New York that they were “aimed at dismissing” the bribery charges against Adams immediately.
Bove pointed out that the order was not based on the evidence of the case but that it was too close to the Adams re -election campaign and was distracting the mayor of his efforts to attend the priorities of President Donald Trump.
“The pending accusation has unduly restricted the ability of Mayor Adams to dedicate all his attention and resources to illegal immigration and violent crime,” Bove wrote.
The memorandum also ordered prosecutors in New York not to take “additional research steps” against the Democrat until after the November municipal elections, although it left open the possibility that the positions could be presented again after that, after a review.
The intervention and reasoning – which a powerful defendant could be too busy with official duties to face trial – marked an extraordinary deviation of the established norms of the Department of Justice.
Public officials at the highest level of the government are routinely investigated by the Department of Justice, including Trump during their first mandate, without prosecutors progressing an affirmation that they should be exempted to attend to government service.
An Adams lawyer, Alex Spiro, said the order of the Department of Justice claims the statement of innocence of the mayor. “Now, fortunately, the mayor and New York can leave behind this unfortunate and wrong accusation,” said Spiro, who has also represented Elon Musk.
A spokeswoman for the Interim Prosecutor's Office of the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, declined to comment. The case against Adams was presented under the previous District prosecutor, Damien Williams, who resigned before Trump assumed the presidency.
The memorandum is still months of speculation that Trump would take measures to end the case against Adams, who was accused in September of accepting free or discount trips and illegal contributions to the campaign of foreign nationals who sought to buy their influence.
Adams, a democrat chosen on a centrist platform, has moved significantly to the right after his accusation, irritating some within his own party.
Instead of restricting cooperation with the customs immigration and control service, as Adams once promised, he has expressed his willingness to reverse the so -called city sanctuary policies and promised not to publicly criticize a president whose policies once described as “abusive.”
In recent weeks, he hinted that Trump's agenda would be better for New York than former president Joe Biden.
Several of the mayor's opponents in the Democratic primary for the mayor's office affirmed on Monday that Adams had agreed to make Trump's offer because he expected clemency.
“Instead of defending New Yorkers, Adams is defending a single person,” said Brad Lander, the comptroller of the city and a challenger to the mayor's office.