The judge who heard the Justice Department’s arguments for dropping the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) signaled he’ll take some time to consider whether to allow the move after a more than hourlong hearing on Wednesday.
Judge Dale Ho said at the conclusion of the hearing that he didn’t want to “shoot from the hip” and make a ruling right from the bench, wanting to take into account what he heard from Adams and acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who directed that the case be dropped.
But he indicated that he also doesn’t want the case to continue indefinitely, though he didn’t indicate when he might issue a ruling.
“It’s not in anyone’s interest here for this to drag on,” Ho said.
During the highly anticipated hearing, Ho questioned Adams and Bove about the prosecution’s motion to drop the charges against the embattled mayor, who is facing allegations that dating back to 2014 he sought and accepted bribes from foreign businesspeople and a Turkish government official.
Bove and Adams’s attorney Alex Spiro argued that Ho’s authority to review the decision was significantly limited and that he did not have much choice other than to dismiss the case. A judge must sign off before the case can officially be dropped.
Bove called the decision from the Department of Justice (DOJ) a “straightforward exercise in prosecutorial discretion” with guidance from President Trump’s executive order pushing against alleged weaponization of the justice system.
The order from Bove to dismiss the charges caused considerable uproar among critics of Adams and prosecutors who had been involved in the case. Former acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned from her office rather than motion to drop the case, alleging that Adams’s attorneys “repeatedly” pushed for a “quid pro quo” between their client and the Trump administration.
That arrangement allegedly entails Adams being granted leniency in his legal issues in exchange for assisting the administration with its immigration priorities. Adams continued his rejections of that idea during the hearing on Wednesday, insisting that no quid pro quo is happening.
Adams told Ho that he was not promised anything nor threatened in any way for him to agree to the charges being dropped, according to a NewsNation reporter in the courtroom.
Sassoon was one of more than a half-dozen prosecutors who resigned in protest over Bove’s directive. A prosecutor eventually signed off on the motion to the judge.
Spiro called Sassoon’s argument “partisan noise” and suggested that she showed bias against Trump.
Bove maintained his arguments first mentioned in his memo signaling the DOJ’s shift that the case is interfering with “national security and immigration enforcement initiatives being carried out by the executive branch.” He said he’s not arguing about the strength of the case but argued it has “appearances of impropriety.”
Bove said a trial would interfere with 75 percent of Adams’s time, according to the NewsNation reporter.
The memo from Bove argued that the case interfered with Adams’s reelection campaign this year and his ability to address illegal immigration and violent crime.
Ho also raised that the motion is to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning they could be reinstated at a future date.
Bove said they could be reinstated, though he doesn’t plan to do so at this time, and Adams told Ho he was “not afraid” of the possibility, as he said he hasn’t committed a crime.
The hearing comes as local and state leaders wrestle with how to handle Adams and the possibility of removing him from office.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) met with “key leaders” on Tuesday to discuss a path forward and signaled possible openness to using her office’s power to remove Adams, which would be unprecedented. A committee of local officials also could potentially gather to try to declare him unable to fulfill his responsibilities.
Several officials have called on Adams to resign in the wake of the DOJ moving to drop the case and accusations that he has to do what the president wants to avoid the charges being refiled, but Adams has rejected those calls, pledging to stay in office and continue with his reelection bid.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
