Acting U.S. deputy attorney general Emil Bove, former attorney for President Donald Trump, instructed federal prosecutors in New York to dismiss criminal charges against New York mayor Eric Adams on Monday. Bove stated that dismissal (without prejudice) was warranted “without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based.”
On Thursday, interim U.S. attorney in Manhattan, Danielle R. Sassoon, and five other Justice Department prosecutors resigned rather than drop the case against Adams.
New York Congressman Dan Goldman (D-NY) reported on Friday on X: “At least SEVEN prosecutors have resigned rather than follow Emil Bove’s unethical, corrupt and political demand to dismiss the Eric Adams case. Bove now has the entire Public Integrity Section in a room threatening to fire anyone unwilling to dismiss the case. Bove must go.”
At least SEVEN prosecutors have resigned rather than follow Emil Bove’s unethical, corrupt and political demand to dismiss the Eric Adams case.
— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) February 14, 2025
Bove now has the entire Public Integrity Section in a room threatening to fire anyone unwilling to dismiss the case.
Bove must go.
Goldman followed up with an even more incendiary view of the situation, writing: “For context, Bondi and Bove explicitly said the decision to dismiss the Adams case was NOT based on facts or law— an admission that it is improperly political. Bove is now terrorizing DOJ looking for someone to violate their bar license to do his dirty work. A dark day for DOJ.”
[NOTE: In his resignation letter, the now former assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, Hagan Scotten, wrote to Bove: “I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me.”]
Many online who agree with the resigning prosecutors and with Goldman are recirculating video from Attorney General Pam Bondi‘s recent Senate confirmation hearing, during which Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) asked the then-nominee about the weaponization of the Justice Department.
Whitehouse asked: “It would not be appropriate for a prosecutor to start with a name and look for a crime. It’s a prosecutor’s job to start with a crime and look for a name, correct?”
Senator Whitehouse asks Pam Bondi about the weaponization of the DOJ during her confirmation hearing.
— Rarely Tolerable. (@RarelyTolerated) January 15, 2025
Whitehouse: "it would not be appropriate for a prosecutor to start with a name and look for a crime. It's a prosecutor's job to start with a crime and look for a name,… pic.twitter.com/fxmI4lhw1b
Bondi replied Trump had been the target of a weaponized DOJ for years but added, “That will not be the case if I am Attorney General. I will not politicize that office.
“I will not target people simply because of their political affiliation. Justice will be administered evenhandedly throughout this country. Senator, we’ve got to bring this country back together. We’ve got to move forward or we’re going to lose our country.”
Note: Todd Blanche, who represented Trump in his 2024 criminal trial in New York, has been nominated for the position of Deputy Attorney General — the role Bove is temporarily filling — and is answering questions at his Senate confirmation hearings this week.
