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Judge dismisses corruption case against NY mayor / Photo: © AFP
NYSE - LSE
Judge dismisses corruption case against NY mayor
A US judge on Wednesday permanently dismissed corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, weeks after President Donald Trump's administration pushed to stop the unprecedented prosecution.
In a 78-page document, Judge Dale Ho agreed to grant the Justice Department's proposed motion to dismiss the indictments, and also closed the door on it being able to reopen the case against Adams.
Adams -- once an up-and-coming star of the Democratic Party -- was accused of wire fraud, soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations and a bribery conspiracy involving Turkish citizens and at least one Turkish official.
In February, Trump's administration sought to quash the charges, arguing that pursuing them would impact Adams' ability to implement a federal anti-immigration crackdown.
That highly unusual request prompted a wave of protest resignations in the Manhattan district attorney's office and in Washington.
Adams has consistently denied the charged and resisted calls to resign, and earlier announced plans to run again for mayor of the largest US city in a November election.
The Justice Department had sought to dismiss the charges without prejudice, meaning they could be reopened at any time.
In his order on Wednesday, however, Judge Ho dismissed them with prejudice, closing that door.
"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," he wrote.
That scenario, the judge argued, could mean "that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents."
The judge said he granted the motion to dismiss not on the basis of the DOJ's arguments, but because the court "cannot force the Department of Justice to prosecute a defendant."
Ho noted that Adams had taken at least one action as mayor to support Trump's immigration crackdown, rendering the Justice Department's argument that he was prevented from doing so by the case moot.
"Everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the Indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions," wrote Ho.
J.Michalak--GL
