DOJ directs prosecutors to drop Mayor Adams’ corruption case

The Department of Justice has directed federal prosecutors to drop corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams, offering him a potential political lifeline as he seeks reelection.

News of the directive comes on the same day the Democratic mayor announced new upcoming guidance on working with federal immigration enforcement and ordered his senior officials to refrain from criticizing President Donald Trump, whom Adams has courted since his reelection.

The Justice Department directed the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office to drop the charges “without prejudice,” meaning they can be revisited in the future, according to a copy of a letter from the acting deputy U.S. attorney general published by multiple outlets.

“The Justice Department has reached this conclusion without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based,” the letter reads.

It nods to Adams’ unsubstantiated claims that he was targeted for criticizing the Biden administration’s immigration policies, and it argues that Adams needs to be released from his federal case so he can “devote full attention and resources” to aiding the Trump administration’s immigration agenda..

As the news broke, Adams was dining at a restaurant with John Catsimatidis, the Republican billionaire grocery store magnate and political donor. In a video shared on social media by a Fox News reporter, the mayor said his team had been notified of the possibility that the charges would be dropped.

“I’m going to reach out to my attorney,” Adams said, adding that he did not want to offer a reaction before learning more. “As I’m sitting here, calls are coming through,” he added.

Both Trump and Adams have claimed they were wrongly prosecuted by the Department of Justice under the Biden administration. Adams’ lawyer is Alex Spiro, who has represented billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk.

“As I said from the outset, the mayor is innocent — and he would prevail. Today he has,” Spiro said in a statement on Monday. “The Department of Justice has reevaluated this case and determined it should not go forward. There is good reason for that. The facts of the case are clear: the mayor never used his official position for personal benefit. Nor did he have any role in violating campaign finance laws.”

The letter notes that the case should be reviewed after the November 2025 mayoral election.

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors accused Adams in September of accepting travel perks from people affiliated with the Turkish government. In exchange, they argued, Adams used his influence to expedite the opening of a new Turkish consulate on the East Side, overruling fire inspectors who had found safety violations.

Prosecutors also accused Adams of accepting straw donations to mask illegal foreign donations to his 2021 campaign.

“These are bright red lines and we allege that the mayor crossed them again and again for years,” said Damian Williams, who was the U.S. attorney for the Southern District at the time.

Williams resigned from his role before Trump took office. Sources told NPR that his temporary replacement, acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, has been ordered to drop the charges while Trump’s nominee, former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Jay Clayton, waits to stand for Senate confirmation.

Adams steadfastly denied wrongdoing, saying that the charges were retaliation for his criticism of the Biden administration’s response to the migrant crisis.