Reports that the Department of Justice has ordered the prosecutors of the Southern District of New York to dismiss the corruption case against Mayor Adams could set up a clash between President Trump and the federal judiciary — and possibly the DOJ’s own prosecutors. 

The order — in the form of a memorandum directed to the acting United States Attorney for SDNY, Danielle Sassoon — came from the DOJ’s acting second in command, Emil Bove, was first reported by the New York Times. The Times relates that Mr. Bove wrote to Ms. Sassoon that “You are directed to dismiss” the case.

The ultimate decision about the fate of the charges handed up against Hizzoner rests with Judge Dale Ho, the federal district judge who is overseeing the case who was named to the bench by President Biden. Mr. Bove allegedly contends that the criminal charges against Mr. Adams amounted to election interference. The indictment was issued in September, nine months before June’s Democratic primary for mayor.

Mr. Bove, who was once himself a prosecutor in SDNY, reportedly insisted that his order that “There shall be no further targeting of Mayor Adams or additional investigative steps … and you are further directed to take all steps within your power to cause Mayor Adams’ security clearances to be restored.” Mr. Bove cites “independent reasons” for the dismissal of the charges. As of this writing, SDNY has not commented on Mr. Bove’s order. The office has indicated that other investigations of Mr. Adams are ongoing — the status of those is unclear.  

An instructive precedent could be the case of General Flynn, who in 2017 as part of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, twice pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. The DOJ moved to dismiss the charges, but Judge Emmet Sullivan insisted on proceeding to sentencing. He reasoned that a trial judge is “not intended to serve merely as a rubber stamp” for a prosecutorial decision to dismiss. He called the rationales for dismissal “patently pretextual.” Judge Sullivan only relented once Mr. Trump pardoned the general.  

Mr. Adams’s trial was set to commence in April, but Mr. Bove asserts that the case “improperly interfered with Mayor Adams’ campaign in the 2025 mayoral election” and  has “restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated under the policies of the prior Administration.”

Mr. Bove alleges that the motivation for charging Mr. Adams for accepting thousands of dollars in bribes from Turkish nationals for political favors was political animus on the part of the Biden administration. He writes that “It cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior Administration’s immigration policies before the charges were filed, and the former US Attorney’s public actions created appearances of impropriety.”

While the DOJ’s about-face on the case is stunning, it does not come entirely as a shock. Late last month Mr. Adam’s attorney, Alex Spiro, met with senior prosecutors at Washington. Prior to that, the mayor dined with the 47th president at Mar-a-Lago, and attended his inauguration, albeit in an overflow room. While New York has been a “sanctuary city” for more than 30 years, the mayor has of late toughened his stance on illegal immigration.

Mr. Bove demanded that the case against Mr. Adams be dismissed “without prejudice,” meaning that it could be refiled again — possibly after June’s election, where polls have the incumbent running behind Governor Cuomo. Mr. Adams last month declared with respect to Mr. Trump that “I’m looking forward to the next four years of having a president that loves the city like I love this city.”

In October, Candidate Trump told Mr. Adams that “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.”