Judge appoints outside lawyer to argue against dropping Adams charges

NEW YORK – The federal judge overseeing the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams appointed an outside lawyer Friday to present arguments in opposition to the Justice Department’s efforts to dismiss the charges.

U.S. District Judge Dale E. Ho declined a request from top leadership at the department to immediately close the case. Instead, he appointed Paul Clement, U.S. solicitor general under President George W. Bush, to advise the court on the matter.

Ho noted that “there has been no adversarial testing” of the government’s push to abandon the Adams prosecution – a controversial move that prompted the resignation of at least eight federal prosecutors, including Danielle Sassoon, the former acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

“Normally, courts are aided in their decision-masking through our system of adversarial testing, which can be particularly helpful in cases presenting unusual fact patterns or in cases of great public importance,” the judge wrote.

At a hearing in Manhattan earlier this week, Emil Bove, the acting deputy attorney general, argued that the judge had little legal authority to oppose the government’s request.

Ho acknowledged that fact, and his order appointing Clement to review the matter Friday came as something of a surprise. But it was not without precedent.

When Justice Department officials tried to drop their case against former national security adviser Michael Flynn during President Donald Trump’s first term, a federal judge in Washington appointed an outside lawyer to ensure traditional prosecutorial interests were being represented in the proceedings.

Ho’s order noted that in the Adams case, attorneys for the mayor and the Justice Department had presented similar arguments for dismissal.

Bove said in court papers and at Wednesday’s court proceeding that the decision to abandon Adams’s case was appropriate and in line with the policies laid out by Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi. The case interfered with the president’s immigration and public safety priorities, which required significant assistance from Adams, Bove said.

Sassoon, in her resignation letter, wrote that she believed Adams had worked out a quid pro quo deal with the department’s higher ups – getting his case dismissed in exchange for more cooperation on federal immigration enforcement.

Adams has denied such a deal.

Bove, who appeared at the hearing on behalf of the Justice Department without colleagues from D.C. or New York, argued that dropping charges against Adams was “a standard exercise of prosecutorial discretion.”

He also said – without citing evidence – that the indictment was brought to advance the political ambitions of former U.S. attorney Damian Williams – even though Williams is not running for public office. Adams is seeking re-election this year; his indictment, made public in September, was filed more than a year in advance of the 2025 mayoral contest.

“Frankly, I think the fact that Mayor Adams is sitting to my left right now is part of the problem,” Bove said in court Wednesday. “He’s not able to be out running the city and campaigning.”

Adams was indicted on charges of bribery, wire fraud and seeking illegal campaign donations for his dealings with wealthy Turkish businesspeople and at least one government. He allegedly accepted improper travel upgrades, stays at luxury hotels and other perks. Prosecutors said he also directed his staff to seek illegal foreign campaign contributions.

The judge acknowledged he did not have the authority to deny the department’s motion to dismiss its own case but said it was his duty to examine the issues presented to him before issuing a ruling.

It is rare for the Justice Department to meddle in the progress of an open indictment, and veteran prosecutors decried the decision as one that threatened the integrity of the institution.

Sassoon and the former lead prosecutor on the case, Hagan Scotten, quit in protest of a Feb. 10 directive from Bove ordering them to seek a dismissal.

Bove, Adams and his lawyers have denied that there were any improper promises made.

Some critics have called for the mayor to resign and said he cut a deal with Trump to save himself.

Adams, in the days after Bove directed the dismissal of his case, made multiple immigration-related announcements and appeared publicly with Trump’s border official Tom Homan. In a joint Fox interview, Adams and Homan exchanged chummy banter. They reached an agreement last week to allow Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to operate on to Rikers Island, the city’s main jail complex.

Bove is a former defense lawyer for Trump who represented him in his criminal cases before the election along with attorney Todd Blanche, who is poised to become the deputy attorney general.

Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) said Thursday that she would not seek Adams’s dismissal but would try to implement measures to monitor Adams and to give other city leaders authority to challenge the Trump administration in court if necessary.

Under New York law, the governor has the power to seek removal of the mayor from office, but no one in Hochul’s position has exercised that authority throughout the state’s history.

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Roebuck reported from Washington.