April 2 (UPI) — A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams Wednesday after the Trump administration ordered the Department of Justice to drop the case.
Judge Dale Ho’s order chastised the Justice Department for dismissing the charges in return for Adams complying with Trump administration immigration policies.
He said it implies that public officials can get special disposition on criminal charges “if they are compliant with the incumbent administration’s policy priorities.”
“That suggestion is fundamentally incompatible with the basic premise of equal justice under the law,” Judge Dale Ho wrote in his dismissal order.
Ho dismissed the case “with prejudice,” a legal term meaning the charges cannot be brought back later based on the same evidence.
Ho’s order said he dismissed with prejudice rather than granting Justice Department’s motion to dismiss without prejudice because it “would create the unavoidable perception that the Mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration.”
He added if future prosecution was held over Adams “he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents.”
The judge wrote that after Trump’s DOJ sought dismissal of the Adams case, “The Mayor took at least one new immigration-related action consistent with the preferences of the new administration. Everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the Indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.”
Ho noted in the dismissal decision that Adams, while still under prosecution threat, announced he would allow “Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to operate at the Rikers Island Jail Complex, an act that appears to be contrary to New York City law.”
U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, retained by Judge Ho to review the Department of Justice’s request to dismiss the Adams charges, recommended no chance of reinstatement.
Seven prosecutors resigned rather than follow the Trump DOJ’s controversial order to request dismissal of the charges against Adams.
“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,” Prosecutor Hagan Scotten said as he resigned.
