The U.S. Department of Justice is moving to dismiss a criminal case of bribery against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams was indicted on charges of selling influence for the benefit of the Turkish government in exchange for luxury travel perks and illegal campaign donations. His former chief adviser, Ingrid Lewis-Martin, was indicted in December on charges of bribery, money laundering, and conspiracy.
‘I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became.’
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove told prosecutors to stand down because the prosecution would get in the way of Adams’ efforts to deal with the immigration crisis in his city.
Dismissing the charges would allow Adams, in the words of the order, to give his “full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that has escalated under the policies of the prior Administration.”
Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro praised the decision.
“Now, thankfully, the mayor and New York can put this unfortunate and misguided prosecution behind them,” he said.
Adams had previously implied that the charges were politically motivated.
“It is now my belief that the federal government intends to charge me with crimes. If so, these charges would be entirely false, based on lies,” he said in September. “But they would not be surprising. I always knew that if I stood my ground for all of you, that I would be a target, and a target I became.”
Speculation arose that Adams was seeking to campaign against the charges when he was seen visiting President Donald Trump at his residence in Mar-a-Lago in Florida just before he took office for a second time.
Trump was asked directly if he would pardon Adams at the time.
“Yeah, I would. I think that he was treated pretty unfairly,” he said. “I would have to see it because I don’t know the facts.”
The order said the charges should be dismissed without prejudice, meaning they could be brought up again later.
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