Eric Adams claims prosecutorial misconduct, skips mayoral forum as candidates take jabs at him
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams should be dropped because of "an extraordinary flurry" of leaks by prosecutors, his attorney said in a new court filing Wednesday.
It came as it was announced that Adams would no longer participate in the campaign season's first mayoral forum in Tribeca on Wednesday night.
The attorney, Alex Spiro, accused "someone within the government" of leaking a letter written by then-acting US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, who resigned in protest of an order to dismiss the bribery and campaign finance charges.
The letter, dated February 12, said the Justice Department agreed to dismiss criminal charges as part of a quid pro quo to secure the mayor's help with President Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration.
"The disclosure of this letter to the press was part of an extraordinary flurry of leaked internal Justice Department correspondence that included memoranda from the Acting Deputy Attorney General to the Southern District and an unhinged resignation letter by one of the former line prosecutors on this case," Spiro said.
The line prosecutor Spiro references is Hagan Scotten, whose resignation letter said only a "fool" or "coward" would carry out the order to drop the mayor's case.
"In addition to violating Mayor Adams's fundamental constitutional rights and ability to receive a fair trial, the government's leaks violated numerous statutory and court rules, including the Justice Department's own longstanding policies aimed at curbing prosecutorial misconduct," Spiro said. "Simply put, the government's conduct has destroyed whatever presumption of innocence Mayor Adams had left."
The judge, Dale Ho, declined to immediately grant the Trump administration's motion to dismiss the case and appointed Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general, to examine the government's motives.
In the new motion filed first thing Wednesday morning, Adams asked the court to toss the case for a new reason: prosecutorial misconduct.
"The Court should act swiftly and dismiss this case with prejudice to prevent further irrevocable harm to Mayor Adams," the motion said.
Mayoral candidates take jabs at Adams during forum in his absence
The motion comes as Adams was supposed to join a crowded field of candidates taking the stage for a mayoral forum. The D37 Mayoral Forum took place at the Borough of Manhattan Community College on Wednesday evening.
Adams informed DC 37 that he wouldn't be participating at the advice of his legal counsel.
New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, New York State Senators Jessica Ramos (D-13th District) and Zellnor Myrie (D-20th District), former Assemblyman Michael Blake, former City Comptroller Scott Stringer and Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani all pitched their cases to New Yorkers, while taking a few jabs at Adams, and a potential mayoral candidate who has yet to officially toss his hat in the ring.
"New York City is the greatest city in the world," Mamdani said. "And it is not because of the leadership, if you can call it that, coming out to City Hall today, it's not because of the failed leaders trying to make a comeback today. We don't need leaders of past to take us to the future. It is time for us to turn the page."
"If you can't come stand before the people who make this city run and answer their questions then you should not be running for mayor," Lander said.
Adams, meanwhile, took an ironic shot at a potential opponent, saying no candidate should be able to stay on the sideline and just send out innuendos. The mayor was referring to former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who is widely believed to be ready to jump into the race as early as this weekend.
Cuomo has drummed up potential support from some political groups and even union endorsements from the city's Carpenters Union and House Member Ritchie Torres who said they'd get behind him.
Ahead of the forum, Stringer had invited Cuomo in the mayor's absence, saying "seat open for you."
Political strategist Hank Sheinkopf said neither Cuomo nor the mayor needed to take part in the early candidate gatherings.
"There's always going to be questions about the mayor's legal spat, but his politics, well, what do you need to get in if you're the mayor? Why do you get in a group of people who aren't your equals? You try to make them better than you by giving them the opportunity to attack you," Sheinkopf said. "The smart move is let them all boil their own juices, move ahead and meet voters."
The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.
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