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.