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President Donald Trump's Department of Justice has ordered federal prosecutors to drop charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
In a memo obtained by the Associated Press, acting Deputy Attorney Emil Bove told New York prosecutors that they were immediately being “directed to dismiss” the bribery charges against Adams, who is accused of accepting illegal campaign contributions and extravagant travel perks exceeding $100,000.
Adams has denied any wrongdoing.
Bove alleged that the timing of the charges and "recent actions" of former U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, the federal prosecutor who filed the charges and resigned after Trump's election win, had comprised the case. In the memo, Bove also claimed that increased pretrial publicity could influence potential witnesses and the jury pool.
The senior official noted that the order to drop the charges wasn't intended to reflect the strength of the prosecution or undermine the attorneys who filed the case.
The memo comes after Adams met with Trump in Florida on January 17. Adams claimed the two didn't discuss his criminal case but said he was looking forward to working with Trump in the future.
"I'm looking forward to the next four years of having a president that loves the city like I love this city," the mayor said following his meeting with the president.
Trump has previously suggested that Adams could be pardoned, saying the mayor had been "treated pretty unfairly."
"I know what it's like to be persecuted by the DOJ, for speaking out against open borders. We were persecuted, Eric. I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric," Trump said in October.
Despite Williams' resignation, prosecutors had signaled last month that their investigation into the mayor was still ongoing, stating in court filings that they continued to "uncover additional criminal conduct by Adams." Directing prosecutors to drop a case that has already been determined as legally sound marks a break from longstanding Justice Department norms.
The DOJ ordered the case to be dismissed without prejudice, meaning there's a possibility it could be refiled in the future.
The Justice Department's order mandates that the case be dismissed without prejudice, leaving open the possibility of it being refiled in the future.
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