Justice Department tells prosecutors to drop case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams

Washington — The Department of Justice told federal prosecutors in New York to drop their corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams, citing his “restricted” ability to help the Trump administration enforce its immigration policies.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a memo instructing prosecutors in the Southern District of New York to abandon the charges.

“You are directed, as authorized by the Attorney General, to dismiss the pending charges,” Bove wrote in a memo Monday, adding that the department “reached this conclusion without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based,” and “in no way calls into question the integrity and efforts” of the prosecutors who brought the case.

Instead, Bove wrote that the “timing of the charges” and the former U.S. attorney who brought the case created “appearances of impropriety,” and that the probe into Adams’ office “has unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime” that occurred in his city under President Biden.

Bove added that the charges against Adams can be reconsidered by the Southern District of New York after the November 2025 New York City mayoral election. 

The stunning decision comes after department lawyers met with Adams’ attorneys and Manhattan federal prosecutors in late January, where senior officials discussed dropping the charges against the embattled mayor. 

In September, Adams was indicted on five counts including bribery, conspiracy and campaign finance violations. He pleaded not guilty to all charges. The mayor’s trial is scheduled to begin in April. 

“As I said from the outset, the mayor is innocent—and he would prevail. Today he has,” Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, said in a statement. “The Department of Justice has reevaluated this case and determined it should not go forward. There is good reason for that. The facts of the case are clear: the mayor never used his official position for personal benefit. Nor did he have any role in violating campaign finance laws.”

CBS News has also reached out to Mayor Adams’ office for comment.

The decision to drop the charges will still need to be formally submitted by prosecutors and approved by the judge overseeing the case. 

Since his indictment, Adams has cozied up to President Trump and members of his administration, meeting with Mr. Trump in Florida before he took office and attending his inauguration in Washington, D.C. The mayor also attended the National Prayer Breakfast in the capital last week. Adams said that he did not discuss his corruption case with Mr. Trump in their Florida meeting.

Federal immigration agents have stepped up enforcement operations across the country, including in New York. But the city has largely avoided being targeted by the Trump administration, which sued Chicago and the state of Illinois over their immigration policies last week. City Hall sources recently told CBS News New York that they believed the city was spared because of the mayor’s relationship with the White House.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem recently said that Adams has been cooperative with DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

Adams has stressed that DHS operations in the city are targeting violent criminals, and said in late January that he had directed the NYPD to assist federal law enforcement with a “targeted operation” to arrest a suspected gang member.

“As I have repeatedly said, we will not hesitate to partner with federal authorities to bring violent criminals to justice — just as we have done for years,” he said in a statement on Jan. 28. “Our commitment to protecting our city’s law-abiding residents, both citizens and immigrants, remains unwavering.”

But his willingness to cooperate with federal authorities has raised alarms among some state lawmakers and advocacy groups, who have criticized a memo Adams issued before Mr. Trump’s inauguration detailing how city officials should interact with federal immigration agents. The memo included a line that said: “[If] you reasonably feel threatened or fear for your safety, you should give the officer the information they have asked for or let them enter the site.” 

New York is a “sanctuary city,” meaning local officials and resources can’t be used to aid civil immigration enforcement, with exceptions for violent criminals. Adams’ critics said his memo opened the door to city officials violating sanctuary city laws. A City Hall spokesperson said the instructions were not meant to be blanket guidance for every city agency.

Adams is one of four mayors who have been called to testify before Congress on March 5 by House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer as part of his investigation into sanctuary cities.

In his criminal case, Adams was accused of accepting illegal campaign donations, as well as flight upgrades and other travel benefits, from a Turkish official and other foreign nationals who were attempting to influence his decision-making. Multiple members of his administration have been investigated and charged in the probe. One of Adams’ former City Hall aides agreed to plead guilty to charges stemming from the investigation last week.

In January, federal prosecutors hinted that additional charges might be coming against the mayor, saying in a court filing that investigators have “continued to identify additional individuals involved in Adams’ conduct, and to uncover additional criminal conduct by Adams.” Court records showed that the grand jury in the case heard from new witnesses as recently as December.

Adams has claimed that he was prosecuted by the Justice Department under former President Joe Biden because he criticized Biden’s immigration policies. Mr. Trump has hinted that he would be open to pardoning Adams, saying in a press conference in mid-December that he didn’t “know the facts” of Adams’ case but thought “that he was treated pretty unfairly.”