As Trump Shakes DoJ, Deeply Conservative Prosecutors Leave

@#1 ... The department ordered the case dropped, citing the city's approaching November mayoral election and saying that prosecuting Adams could interfere with his ability to assist with a crackdown on immigration, a top Trump priority. ...

That's like dropping the charges against a bank robber because would interfere with his job.

... The Justice Department on Friday evening moved to drop bribery and fraud charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Why it matters: At least seven prosecutors resigned this week rather than obey a DOJ order to withdraw the indictment, with some criticizing department leadership for making the decision for political rather than legal reasons.

- - - Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove reportedly pulled the DOJ's remaining public integrity prosecutors into a room and warned them that if one didn't agree to file the motion dismissing the charges within an hour, they could all be fired.

Driving the news: Two prosecutors ultimately did file the request with Judge Dale E. Ho asking for a dismissal of the case "without prejudice," meaning the charges could later be reinstated.

- - - The request, signed by Bove, argues the indictment interferes with the mayor's ability to do his job ...

[emphasis mine]

That "without prejudice" aspect, as I understand it, means that Pres Trump is now effectively the Mayor of NYC, dictating to Mayor Adams what he (Pres Trump) wants done under the threat of the charges being re-instated.

@#6

What I've been hearing on the local NYC news is that both are considering their options. But nothing is going to happen quickly.

Another New York federal prosecutor resigns over DOJ order to dismiss Eric Adams case
abcnews.go.com

... Hagan Scotten, the assistant United States attorney for Southern District of New York, blasted Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove in a letter one day after acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon resigned over her refusal to follow through with the Justice Department's request.

"In short, the first justification for the motion -- that [former U.S. Attorney] Damian Williams's role in the case somehow tainted a valid indictment supported by ample evidence, and pursued under different U.S. attorneys is so weak as to be transparently pretextual," Scotten wrote. ...

"The second justification is worse. No system of ordered liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives," he added.

Scotten, an Army veteran who served in Iraq and clerked under Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts and Brett Kavanaugh before he was appointed to the Supreme Court, chastised the president and the administration.

"I can even understand how a Chief Executive whose background is in business and politics might see the contemplated dismissal-with-leverage as a good, if distasteful, deal," he wrote.

"If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me," he added. ...

Full text of the letter is here (PDF): static01.nyt.com