New York City Mayor Eric Adams‘ federal corruption case has been sensationally dismissed.
The mayor’s case was ordered to be dropped with prejudice on Wednesday in a bombshell ruling from a judge.
It comes weeks after President Trump ordered his Justice Department to push prosecutors in Manhattan to drop the case against Adams.
In September, Adams became the first New York City Mayor in history to face criminal charges as he was hit with a five-count indictment including bribery and fraud.
He was accused of receiving perks including flight upgrades and penthouse suites from Turkish officials looking to buy influence with the mayor, and prosecutors said he took in over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions.
But Adams insisted the prosecution was politically motivated and he was targeted because of his opposition to weak immigration policies.
He turned to Trump for help in turning the tide in the case, and even appeared alongside his Border Czar Tom Homan to call for mass deportations.
Critics had alleged that Adams’ case had only been dismissed after he sided with Trump, and in his ruling on Wednesday, Judge Dale Ho said: ‘Everything here smacks of a bargain – dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions.’
New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ federal corruption case has been sensationally dismissed
Ho explained in his ruling that the case was being dismissed with prejudice, meaning prosecutors cannot re-charge Adams with the same crimes as in his indictment.
The case had been challenged by Trump’s Department of Justice as they argued it was politically motivated, particularly over Adams’ outspoken rhetoric on illegal immigration.
Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had pushed for federal prosecutors to drop the case shortly after Adams visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, leading to allegations Adams was working with Trump’s immigration crackdown in exchange for leniency.
Ho wrote in his ruling that the argument put forward by Trump’s Department of Justice that immigration is to blame ‘is both unprecedented and breathtaking in its sweep.’
‘DOJ cites no examples, and the court is unable to find any, of the government dismissing charges against an elected official because doing so would enable the official to facilitate federal policy goals,’ the judge said.
The DOJ had asked the case to be dropped without prejudice, meaning the charges could be brought again in the future, but Ho ruled against this to avoid the indictment being used to blackmail Adams.
Ho wrote that dismissing the charges with prejudice ‘ensures that, going forward, the charges in the indictment cannot be used as leverage over Mayor Adams or the City of New York.’
In September, Adams became the first New York City Mayor in history to face criminal charges as he was hit with a five-count indictment including bribery and fraud
Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove (pictured) had pushed for federal prosecutors to drop the case shortly after Adams visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, alleging the case was politically motivated
Ho wrote in his ruling that if he had not dropped the case against Adams with prejudice, 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.
‘And that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents.’
After Trump re-took the White House and the approach to Adams’ case eased, Danielle Sassoon, the interim US Attorney for Manhattan, resigned in protest.
While news of Adams’ case being dropped will likely do little to calm calls for his resignation, the mayor maintains that he is still running for re-election this year.
Adams faces an uphill struggle to remain in office, however, with former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo leading polls after entering the race weeks ago.
It comes as Adams insists he is still running for re-election this year, but polls have him trailing far behind current frontrunner, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (pictured Monday)
Other than Cuomo, State Senator Zellnor Myrie, Brad Lander, the city’s comptroller, State Senator Jessica Ramos, former Comptroller Scott Stringer, State Assemblyman Zoharn Mamdani and former assembly member Michael Blake are in the running as well.
A recent poll from Emerson/ PIX11/ The Hill found Cuomo holds a healthy lead in the race, picking up 38 percent support.
Mamdani came in second at 10 percent, while Adams sits in third at eight percent.
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .