Seven prosecutors have resigned after the Department of Justice issued an order that charges against Mayor Eric Adams be dismissed, CNN reports.
Hagen Scotten was placed on administrative leave Thursday (Feb. 13) for refusing to endorse the dismissal of charges.
In a letter addressed to acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, Scotten described the DOJ’s actions as “dismissal-with-leverage.”
“Any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way,” Scotten wrote.
“If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion,” Scotten added. “But it was never going to be me.”
Scotten slammed the Justice Department leadership’s reasoning for attempting to dismiss the case claiming that Adams could devote his “full attention and resources” to fighting illegal immigration and his upcoming 2025 reelection campaign.
“No system of ordered liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives,” the letter continued.
In September, Adams was indicted on corruption and fraud charges, making him the first against a sitting mayor in modern New York City history.
Damian Williams, who was appointed by former President Joe Biden as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, brought the charges against Adams. He resigned in November after Trump was elected to the presidency,
On Monday (February 10) Bove announced an order for prosecutors to drop all corruption charges against Adams.
A senior official said that the Justice Department will review the charges would be reviewed following the confirmation of a new U.S. attorney appointed by President Trump.
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