Two highly anticipated filings expected Friday in the contentious effort to dismiss the public corruption case against Mayor Adams could open up a new chapter in the saga as criticism that Adams has surrendered his independence to President Trump to skirt charges reach a boiling point.
Manhattan Federal Judge Dale Ho has ordered an independent lawyer, Paul Clement, to file arguments testing the Justice Department’s motion to dismiss the Adams case no later than Friday.
Seeking another side to consider where none previously existed, Ho last month appointed Clement to explore what might happen if he let the case live on, among other topics. Clement was the former solicitor general under President George W. Bush.
The second filing stems from the fact that the judge now has two requests to dismiss the case before him, one from Trump’s former acting No. 2 at the Department of Justice, Emil Bove, and one from Adams himself.
The DOJ’s motion asks Ho to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning it could be brought again in the future, primarily arguing that Adams must be free to assist the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to illegal immigration without being bogged down by a court case. The motion is not based on a belief of whether Adams is innocent or guilty.
While Adams has agreed to the uncertainty of being charged again, he has separately asked the judge to toss the case with prejudice, which would, in effect, kill it for good. His dismissal bid argues that the highly-publicized resignations of prosecutors who refused DOJ orders to drop the charges destroyed whatever presumption of innocence he had.
Ho has also ordered the DOJ to oppose Adams’s dismissal bid — if it intends to — no later than Friday, potentially setting up the mayor to find himself on the other side of the feds he’s been in lockstep with until now.
As he runs for reelection in what’s becoming a crowded field, the deal between Adams and the DOJ underpinning the government’s dismissal motion has ignited a legal and political firestorm and widespread criticism of the mayor, including calls for his removal and the resignations of four deputy mayors.
His job approval ratings hit an all-time low this week in a Quinnipiac University poll showing only 20% of voters are happy with the job he’s doing, and 56% think he should resign.
Adams faced a grilling from House Democrats Wednesday at a congressional hearing about sanctuary cities, who asked him if he was now beholden to Trump and quoted comments the president’s border czar Tom Homan made sitting beside him in a “Fox & Friends” appearance last month. Homan said he’d be “up [Adams’s] butt” if he didn’t stick to the agreement.
Alarm bells about the unusual arrangement were first sounded by former acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, who, in a letter to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi before she resigned, said she couldn’t follow through on the DOJ’s orders to drop the case given the “dangerous precedent” it would set, in part because it stemmed from what amounted to a “quid pro quo” between the mayor and the Trump administration.
Sassoon, a Republican and one of at least seven feds to resign in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., after Trump’s new DOJ brass intervened in the case, also said prosecutors had been prepared to file more charges against Adams, accusing him of trying to hide his crimes from the FBI and ordering others to do the same. Adams has denied those allegations and the quid pro quo, as has Trump’s DOJ officials.
In coming to a decision — outside of the positions of Adams, the DOJ, and Clement — Ho will have to assess a raft of arguments from outside parties, including from former U.S. attorneys, a coalition of former federal judges who have suggested Ho appoint an independent prosecutor, and various legal scholars and ethics experts.
Writing to Ho last week, the former judges told him the circumstances behind the DOJ’s dismissal bid indicate it “is one half of an improper quid pro quo — the other half being Mayor Adams’s agreement to further the administration’s immigration policy objectives, which have nothing to do with the charges against Mayor Adams.”
“[By] seeking to dismiss without prejudice, the administration apparently seeks to hold renewed prosecution over Adams’s head to ensure his continued compliance with the administration’s policies,” they wrote.
“The Justice Department seeks to use this Court as the fulcrum for its leverage against Mayor Adams. If so, the Court should not allow it.”
The Southern District of New York federal prosecutor’s office, under its former head, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, in September, filed the bombshell indictment against Adams, accusing him of selling his political influence to wealthy Turkish officials and businessmen starting a decade ago when he was Brooklyn borough president.
The indictment accuses Adams of accepting luxury travel and hotel stays all around the world and soliciting illegal campaign contributions from his corrupt foreign benefactors that were funneled through U.S. citizens. Adams partly made good on the bribes by forcing the FDNY to disregard safety concerns and prematurely open a Midtown skyscraper housing Turkey’s consulate in time for a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the case alleges.
Adams has pleaded not guilty to bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy, and two counts of soliciting contributions from foreign nationals. The charges collectively carry up to 45 years and were set to be tried on Apr. 21 before Ho indefinitely adjourned the trial last month.