Judge dismisses criminal case against New York Mayor Eric Adams

A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed the criminal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, nearly two months after the Trump administration controversially sought to drop the case.

The case was dismissed “with prejudice,” which means the Department of Justice is permanently barred from resurrecting the five-count indictment against Adams based on the same evidence used in the case in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.

The DOJ originally asked District Court Judge Dale Ho to toss the case “without prejudice,” after seven federal prosecutors quit in protest over the department’s demand that they file that request.

A dismissal without prejudice would have allowed the DOJ to refile charges against the Democrat in the future if the department chose to do so.

Ho, in his order on Wednesday, denied the DOJ’s request, writing that dismissing the case without prejudice “would create the unavoidable perception that the Mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration.

The judge also said it would create the perception that Adams, who is seeking re-election this year, “might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents.”

“That appearance is inevitable, and it counsels in favor of dismissal with prejudice,” Ho wrote.

The judge noted that Adams requested a dismissal with prejudice, and that the DOJ had not opposed that motion, “effectively waiving any objection to permanent dismissal of this case.”

Adams, who is a former New York City police officer, was indicted in September on charges accusing him of a decade-long campaign contribution scheme, bribery and other allegations.

The indictment accused Adams of accepting illegal donations to his 2021 mayoral campaign and of accepting free luxury travel as far back as 2016, when he was the Brooklyn borough president.

Prosecutors said that a senior official in Turkey’s diplomatic establishment facilitated campaign donations to Adams, and also arranged for his and companies to receive free or discounted travel on Turkey’s national airline to destinations including France, China, Sri Lanka, India, Hungary and Turkey.

Adams in exchange, later pressured the New York City Fire Department to facilitate the opening of Turkey’s new consulate building without a fire inspection in time for a visit by Turkey’s president, the indictment alleges.

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