The New York judge overseeing the federal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Wednesday dismissed the charges, and ordered that the government cannot bring the same charges on the mayor again.
On February 14, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a motion seeking to dismiss the charges against Adams without prejudice, meaning the DOJ sought to abandon its prosecution of Adams at that time, but reserved the right to reinitiate the case in the future.
In an opinion and order filed on Wednesday, United States District Judge Dale Ho said he dismisses the corruption charges 'with prejudice' because otherwise the DOJ can keep revisiting the same case and "would leave Mayor Adams under the specter of reindictment at essentially any time, and for essentially any reason."
In recommending the case be dropped, then-acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said that it’s the DOJ's opinion the case was politically motivated and that continuing the prosecution was impeding Adams’ ability to do his job as mayor, including cooperating with President Donald Trump on immigration policies.
"In light of DOJ’s rationales, dismissing the case without prejudice would create the unavoidable perception that the mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration, and that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents," the judge wrote. "It ensures that, going forward, the charges in the indictment cannot be used as leverage over Mayor Adams or the City of New York."
Ho clarified that the court's decision was not about whether Adams is innocent or guilty, or whether the case should continue.
"A court cannot force the Department of Justice to prosecute a defendant. That is by design. In our constitutional system of separation of powers, a court’s role in a criminal case is to preside over the matter—not to decide whether the defendant should be prosecuted," he said.
Part of the court's role is to shine a light on the reasons that DOJ has decided to dismiss this case, "leaving the most important judgment to the public," Ho said.
The mayor was indicted in September on charges related to bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals in exchange for political favors, starting when he was the Brooklyn Borough President. He has said the charges are politically motivated and pleaded not guilty.
After the decision was announced, the mayor, in a short video address, said he was happy to move forward and wanted to apologize to New Yorkers for having to go through "a baseless case that never should have been brought in the first place."
"The lies spread through false leaks and splashed across sensational headlines and all of the distractions," Adams said. "But what I want you to know, that I never stop working for you, not for one day, not for one hour, not for one minute, because you are who I think about every morning. You are my north star."
