Former Appearing U.S. Lawyer Danielle Sassoon was given simply 40 minutes to temporary Division of Justice officers on the logistics of Mayor Adams’ federal corruption case and had no time to go over different points linked to the DOJ’s causes for dropping the case, she wrote in a newly unsealed draft model of a letter to Lawyer Common Pam Bondi final month.
Sassoon, who resigned somewhat than observe the order to drop the case over issues the deal between Adams and the Trump administration was improper, wrote in a draft letter that her prosecutors had lower than an hour to speak concerning the “chronology of the investigation” at a January assembly between her staff, DOJ officers and Adams’ authorized staff in Washington, D.C. The probe had been underway for a number of years.
“I remain baffled by the urgent and superficial process by which this decision was reached,” Sassoon wrote.
On the finish of the assembly, then-acting U.S. deputy legal professional common Emil Bove directed a member of her staff to shred their notes, she mentioned.
The letter, together with different supplies Adams’ attorneys and Trump Justice Division officers say show Adams was unjustly prosecuted, was unsealed on Tuesday after the choose within the case ordered it.
Sassoon had beforehand revealed that on the Jan. 31 conferences, the mayor’s attorneys “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. The deal has come under widespread criticism over its provisions that Adams help the Trump White House caryr out its hardline immigration efforts.
The case against Adams, filed in September 2024, accuses Adams of abusing his government positions starting over a decade ago by accepting luxury benefits, including first-class flights and opulent hotel stays worldwide from wealthy foreign businessmen and officials in or close to the authoritarian-leaning Turkish government looking to gain influence over him. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The prosecutor admitted that Damian Williams, her predecessor in the role, took “self-serving actions” like creating a private web site — however she mentioned that dismissing the case due to these actions was excessive.
Trump DOJ officers have claimed that Adams’ case must be dropped partially as a result of he was politically focused, claiming that Williams rushed into indicting Adams to additional his personal political profession.
“There are myriad ways to address any arising prejudice or perception of weaponization well short of a dismissal-steps routinely taken in other cases with pretrial publicity—but I have never had a chance to raise them,” Sassoon wrote.
DOJ attorneys had beforehand cited parts of texts between Southern District prosecutors within the case, claiming that these communications had been proof the indictment was politically motivated.
The paperwork drop contains texts between prosecutors within the case debating on the way to phrase the indictment.
“All good here other than my kids gave me a stomach bug for the weekend,” Hagan Scotten, a prosecutor within the case who additionally resigned over the DOJ’s movement to dismiss, wrote to an SDNY investigator in a pleasant November textual content trade the place the investigator asks if he was contemplating changing into a choose.
“Got to convict Adams before I think about anything else. Hope all is well between you and yours,” Scotten continued.
Manhattan Federal Decide Dale Ho ordered the complete exchanges be launched final week.
“As I’ve said from the beginning, this bogus case that needed ‘gymnastics’ to find a crime – was based on ‘political motive’ and ‘ambition’ not facts or law,” Spiro mentioned in an announcement. “The more we learn about what was really going on behind the scenes, the clearer it is that Mayor Adams should have never been prosecuted in the first place.”
This can be a creating story; it is going to be up to date.
With Chris Sommerfeldt
Initially Revealed: March 25, 2025 at 12:24 PM EDT
