(The Center Square) — A federal judge has put New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ public corruption trial on hold but is refusing to drop the charges, for now, despite a request from the U.S. Department of Justice to dismiss the case.
In an order issued Friday, U.S. District Court Judge Dale Ho tapped conservative attorney Paul Clement to present arguments for “the people” challenging the DOJ’s decision to drop charges against Adams and consider if a dismissal is in the public’s interest. Clement, who served as solicitor general under former President George W. Bush, has argued several major cases before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Normally, courts are aided in their decision-making through our system of adversarial testing, which can be particularly helpful in cases presenting unusual fact patterns or in case of great public importance,” Ho wrote in the five-page order. But Ho wrote that because the DOJ and Adams both want the charges dropped “there has been no adversarial testing of the government’s position.”
Adams is facing federal charges of bribery, corruption, wire fraud and soliciting and accepting donations from foreign nationals. He has pleaded not guilty and denies that there was any quid pro quo with the Trump administration for dismissing the charges.
Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney Emil Bove, who served as Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, ordered federal prosecutors to drop the case last week. In a letter, Bove argued that the case against Adams had “interfered” with the mayor’s work to address “illegal immigration and violent crime”—two of President Donald Trump’s key priorities.
But the move to dismiss the case against Adams prompted an exodus of federal prosecutors — including the interim US attorney for the Southern District of New York — who disagreed with the decision and resigned in protest. Four deputy mayors have left City Hall as well, citing the DOJ’s move to drop the charges.
On Thursday, three former U.S. attorneys from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey submitted a letter calling on Ho to listen to parties “other than the government and the defendant in deciding about the appropriate next steps.”
Adams, who is up for reelection next year, has denied any quid pro quo with the Trump administration for dropping the charges against him.
On Thursday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that she won’t be using her executive authority to remove Adams from office, despite pressure to do so from other top New York Democrats. Instead, Hochul is pitching a package of legislative changes that would, if approved, blunt the power of the mayor’s office until the next election and allow other New York City officials to sue the Trump administration.
Hochul’s plan also calls for a new inspector general position for New York City and expanding funding for the state comptroller’s office to conduct more oversight of the city.