By Susan Heavey and Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A federal judge on Tuesday ordered U.S. prosecutors to appear in court this week to address why they are seeking to dismiss criminal charges filed against New York Mayor Eric Adams.
The hearing comes after a Justice Department official appointed by Republican President Donald Trump ordered prosecutors to seek dismissal of the case. At least a half-dozen federal prosecutors resigned rather than obey the order, but other officials eventually formally sought dismissal on Friday.
U.S. District Judge Dale Ho, an appointee of Democratic former President Joe Biden, ordered the parties to appear at a hearing on Wednesday at 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT) to discuss the matter.
Neither Adams’ lawyer nor the Justice Department immediately responded to requests for comment.
Four deputies to Adams said on Monday they planned to resign in a withdrawal of support for the embattled Democratic mayor, who has warmed to Trump since being indicted last year on charges of taking bribes from Turkish officials. He has pleaded not guilty.
New York state Governor Kathy Hochul, who has the power to remove Adams, said in a statement on Monday night that she would meet with key leaders in Manhattan on Tuesday to discuss “the path forward.”
“Overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly,” said Hochul, also a Democrat. “That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored.”
Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a Trump appointee who had defended Trump in a criminal case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, said the Justice Department’s decision to dismiss charges had nothing to do with the merits of the case. Rather, he said the case was distracting Adams from helping Trump crack down on illegal immigration, one of the administration’s top priorities.
Adams has asserted, without presenting evidence, that the charges were brought in retaliation for his criticism of the Biden administration’s immigration policies. Prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, which brought the charges, have denied this, pointing out that their investigation began before Adams began criticizing Biden’s policies in 2022.
The Justice Department has asked Ho to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning they could be brought again later.
In a February 10 letter ordering former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon to drop the case, Bove said the charges had improperly interfered with Adams’ re-election campaign. He said prosecutors would reconsider the case after the November 2025 mayoral election in the largest U.S. city.
Sassoon, in a February 12 letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi expressing her opposition to Bove’s order, said dismissing the case without prejudice would amount to the Trump administration’s threatening Adams with future prosecution if he does not cooperate with enforcing immigration laws.
Another Justice Department attorney, Ryan Crosswell, wrote in a resignation letter to Bondi on Monday that the decision to dismiss the case was “not based on the facts or the law.” Crosswell declined to comment on the letter, which circulated on social media on Tuesday and which Reuters confirmed as authentic.
(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Sarah Lynch in Washington and Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Chizu Nomiyama, David Bario, Hugh Lawson and Leslie Adler)
