The Justice Department has ordered that charges against NYC Mayor Eric Adams dismissed

Acting US Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove has directed federal prosecutors in New York to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, according to a senior Justice Department official on Monday evening.

The memo, sent by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a former prosecutor in New York, directed the acting United States Attorney for the Southern District, Danielle Sassoon, to dismiss the charges "as soon as is practicable"—subject to several conditions, including a review by the Southern District after the November 2025 mayoral election.

Last year, the Justice Department charged Adams, a Democrat, with public corruption, marking the first prosecution of a sitting mayor in the city's modern history. Adams pled not guilty, and the matter was scheduled to go to trial this spring.

The email lists two grounds for ordering the dismissal: the Justice Department believes the case has been tarnished by publicity and that it is interfering with Adams' ability to perform his duties as mayor.

“The pending prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated under the policies of the prior Administration,” Bove writes.

The allegations have yet to be dropped, and federal prosecutors in New York did not immediately reply to a request for comment Monday night.

Prosecutors led by Danielle R. Sassoon, the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, would file a formal dismissal request in court. A judge would also consider a move to dismiss.

Adams, a former New York Police Department captain who was elected mayor in 2021, was charged in a September indictment with one count of conspiracy to receive campaign contributions from foreign nationals and commit wire fraud and bribery, two counts of soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals, and one count of soliciting and accepting a bribe.

The indictment accused Adams of accepting $100,000 in complimentary aircraft tickets and luxurious hotel stays from affluent Turkish individuals and at least one government official over the course of a nearly decade-long corruption conspiracy.

Adams has pled not guilty. He has stated that he is innocent, that the allegations are politically motivated, and that he would fight them.