NEW YORK (Reuters) -The judge overseeing Eric Adams’ corruption case should grant the New York City mayor’s and U.S. Department of Justice’s joint request to dismiss the case, and should dismiss it for good, an independent lawyer advised on Friday.
Paul Clement, a conservative who was solicitor general during Republican President George W. Bush’s administration, offered the recommendation to U.S. District Judge Dale Ho, who sought an outside perspective on the Trump administration’s request to abandon the case against Adams, a Democrat.
The Justice Department had sought to drop Adams’ case “without prejudice,” meaning it could reinstate the charges later, but Clement said a dismissal “with prejudice” was appropriate.
Leaving the case open to renewal is “a prospect that hangs like the proverbial Sword of Damocles over the accused,” Clement wrote.
“The prospect of reindictment could create the appearance, if not the reality, that the actions of a public official are being driven by concerns about staying in the good graces of the federal executive, rather than the best interests of his constituents,” he added.
In February, the Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove asked that the case be dropped, saying it was interfering with Adams’ ability to help Trump enforce immigration laws.
Bove acted after several senior prosecutors resigned rather than carry out his order to dismiss the charges, which they viewed as political interference in a criminal case.
Danielle Sassoon, the interim Manhattan U.S. Attorney at the time, criticized what she viewed as a quid pro quo where Adams would help Trump speed up deportations only if the charges were dropped.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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