A Travesty of Justice

Emil Bove, the No. 2 official at the Justice Department, signed a request to drop corruption charges against New York’s mayor, Eric Adams, after at least seven prosecutors resigned in protest of the move. The lead prosecutor on Adams’s investigation wrote in his resignation letter to Bove:

“There is a tradition in public service of resigning in a last-ditch effort to head off a serious mistake. Some will view the mistake you are committing here in the light of their generally negative views of the new Administration. I do not share those views. I can even understand how a Chief Executive whose background is in business and politics might see the contemplated dismissal-with-leverage as a good, if distasteful, deal. But 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. 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. But it was never going to be me.”

Hagan Scotten’s resignation letter from his position as an assistant United States attorney (AUSA) in the Southern District of New York speaks truth to power.

The U.S. attorney in Manhattan and several officials in Washington resigned over the Justice Department’s order to drop the corruption case against Eric Adams, New York City’s mayor. Emil Bove guided Adams’ defense lawyers as they crafted an argument for dismissing the case.

Danielle Sassoon, the Manhattan prosecutor, explained her refusal to drop the Adams case in a letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

“I remain baffled by the rushed and superficial process by which this decision was reached,” she wrote.

Prominent New Yorkers called on Adams to resign. They accused him of adopting President Trump’s policies to escape legal trouble. The decision now lies with a federal judge though the Adams case is unique.