Following his reconciliation with President Donald Trump, the US justice ministry ordered federal prosecutors to cut fraud claims against New York Mayor Eric Adams on Monday.
Adams, the second relaxing mayor of New York to face charges of fraud and bribery, rebuffed requests to resign. He entered a not-guilty plea in September.
The Democratic president claimed unsupported that he was facing punishment for his condemnation of former president Joe Biden’s immigration plans. He’s been making frequent phone calls to Republican President Trump’s supporters in recent days.
In a letter from the Justice Department, acting deputy attorney general Emil Bove, a former Trump solicitor, instructed the acting US attorney for the Southern District of New York to drop the charges.
” You are directed, as authorized by the Attorney General, to ignore the pending claims in United States v. Adams”, said the letter, obtained and published by The New York Times.
Bove’s note said the schedule of the costs and the analysis had “improperly interfered” with Adam’s 2025 municipal strategy.
According to Bove,” The pending trial has unreasonably restricted Mayor Adams ‘ ability to devote all of his resources and attention to the illegal immigration and violent crime.”
‘ Betraying’ New Yorkers
Adams was once hailed as a promising future Democratic Party sun, but last year, he was plunged into a social saga by numerous investigations into alleged corruption.
He was charged with wire fraud, soliciting illegal unusual campaign contributions, and corruption conspiracy involving Turkish citizens and at least one Greek official, according to the prosecution.
He also reportedly accepted comfort international flights, hotel apartments and completely high-end restaurant foods, including from Greek associates, in return for favors.
In one instance, lawyers say Adams pressured the town’s fire department to review Turkey’s fresh high-rise embassy in Manhattan despite security issues.
His election campaign in November has been hampered by the incident.
Adams’s attorney Alex Spiro on Monday praised the Justice Department’s selection.
” As I said from the outset, the president is honest– and he would succeed. Immediately he has”, Spiro said in an email to AFP.
The acting US counsel for the Southern District of New York, Danielle Sassoon, has not yet released a common response to Bove’s letter.
Trump officially expressed his support for Adams last season, claiming that he was facing legal action because” for speaking out against opened edges.”
In January, Adams and Trump met and said they had a “productive talk about New York’s wants,” adding that they had not spoken about my legal situation.
The Justice Department’s law was described by the New York Civil Liberties Union on Monday as” an additional indication of the Trump presidency hijacking the Justice Department for its own purposes.”
” The Mayor’s late and surprise accept of Trump and his force to destroy historic city laws protecting refugees is alarming”, it said, adding that Adams “is betraying our areas”.
