Top NY Prosecutor Quits In Scathing Letter Accusing Pam Bondi of Increased ‘Weaponization’ At DOJ
(AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor resigned on Thursday and slammed the Department of Justice over its “weaponization” after the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams was ordered dropped earlier this week.
Acting US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, a lifelong Republican, resigned Thursday after she was directed to drop Adams’s case by Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
In a lengthy letter addressed to Attorney General Pam Bondi on Thursday, Sassoon blasted Adams and the DOJ. In the letter, Sassoon claimed there was ample evidence proving Adams was guilty of widespread corruption.
While referencing a memo from Bove directing her to drop the case against Adams, she referenced her previous experience clerking for the late former Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia:
When I took my oath of office three weeks ago, I vowed to well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I was about to enter. In carrying out that responsibility, I am guided by, among other things, the Principles of Federal Prosecution set forth in the Justice Manual and your recent memoranda instructing attorneys for the Department of Justice to make only good- faith arguments and not to use the criminal enforcement authority of the United States to achieve political objectives or other improper aims. I am also guided by the values that have defined my over ten years of public service. You and I have yet to meet, let alone discuss this case.
But as you may know, I clerked for the Honorable J. Harvie Wilkinson III on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and for Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court. Both men instilled in me a sense of duty to contribute to the public good and uphold the rule of law, and a commitment to reasoned and thorough analysis. I have always considered it my obligation to pursue justice impartially, without favor to the wealthy or those who occupy important public office, or harsher treatment for the less powerful.
Sassoon also accused the DOJ of offering Adams a “quid pro quo” by the Trump administration if he helped the federal government crackdown on illegal immigration.
“Rather than be rewarded, Adams’s advocacy should be called out for what it is: an improper offer of immigration enforcement assistance in exchange for a dismissal of his case,” she wrote.
She added that “dismissing the case” against Adams would “amplify, rather than abate, concerns about weaponization of the Department.”
Adams was accused of accepting perks for helping to fast-track the opening of the Turkish consult in New York City. CNN reported he pleaded not guilty when charged and his case was headed to trial in the coming months.
