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CNN
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Wednesday’s highly anticipated hearing on the Department of Justice’s motion to dismiss the case against New York Mayor Eric Adams ended without an immediate ruling from Judge Dale Ho.
Ho said he would not “shoot in the waist” on the bench just before postponing the hearing.
The DOJ’s move to end the lawsuit against Adams encouraged prosecutors to leave the country, opposing the decision. Eight federal prosecutors, including interim US lawyers for the Southern District of New York, resigned in protest. Four deputy mayors also left city hall.
Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who sat alone at the prosecutor’s table, argued that “the appearance of interference and risk of interference in the 2025 election in New York City” should be dismissed hostilely. . Continuing the case “is because it interferes with the defendant’s ability to govern in New York City and threatens President Donald Trump’s immigration policy.
“Frankly, I think the fact that Mayor Adams is sitting on my left right now is part of the problem. He can’t run the city and run a campaign, so this move is a real interference. I think so,” Bove told court Wednesday.
“The lack of a Quid Pro is uncontroversial,” Bove said. He also added that it is irrelevant whether there is a Quid Pro Quo, as it does not affect the legality of the dismissal claim.
In court, Adams’ attorney Alex Spiro, said the Quid Quo Pro proposal between Adams and the Trump administration was false and “it never happened.”
After asking a series of routine questions about his mental state and understanding of the situation, Judge Ho found that he was capable of obtaining voluntary consent to the motion to dismiss the charge.
The court was packed with onlookers, including Todd Blanche, Trump’s choice for the Associate Attorney General, and James Dennehy, the top agent in the FBI’s New York Field office where agents investigated Adams.
Adams, who has agreed to the contract in writing, supported Trump’s immigration agenda, asked for and solicited donations from foreigners, and accepted “Quid” with the administration over accusations of bribery, corruption, wire fraud, and solicitation and acceptance. Pro Quo was also denied.
During the hearing, the mayor stood, raised his right hand and made a vow to tell the truth. He admitted that the Justice Department could reclaim the accusation at a later date, but he said he didn’t think it would.
“I’ve not committed a crime,” Adams said. “I won’t see them get it back. I’m not afraid of it.”
When asked, Adams also said he had not been promised to agree to the allegations – and he was not threatened to agree to the motion.
Bove said at one point, “The only question I want to clarify is whether there is a basis for believing that I went to court maliciously, and the answer to that is definitely not. Masu.”
Judge Ho spent nearly an hour in court questioning Bove about the DOJ’s rationale to drop the case, but he said he understands the discretion that the motion is “narrow.”
Ho pushed Bove whether the Justice Department dropped other lawsuits on the proposed rationale. Bove said he is unaware of cases involving civil servants, but he said there have been cases in which prosecutors have filed charges against “significant foreign policy interests.”
The judge also asked how far the Justice Department theory goes. Hypothetically, the judge asked whether it applies to a police commissioner or a governor of a border state who has been charged with public safety and national security interests.
“Absolutely,” Bove replied.
Bove also painted parallel to Trump’s federal accusations tied to January 6, with the judge granting an motion to dismiss the case without bias.
“If that’s okay, there’s no basis for questioning my representative today,” Bove told the judge.
“This is a very complicated situation at least from where I’m sitting,” said Ho.
There is little precedent as to what will happen next if Ho refuses a motion to dismiss the case against Adams. The judge had planned a hearing amid an increase in calls from top Democrats to resign or resign from the fighter, but former prosecutors were fired without digging deeper into the circumstances surrounding the trial. He urged the judge not to approve it.
The Justice Department attempted to dismiss a case under Rule 48(a) of the Rules of Criminal Procedure, in which the government “takes court leave.”
“It’s not anyone’s interest to drug this, I understand that it’s not the government’s interest, not Mayor Adams as a defendant, and not in the public interest,” the judge said the hearing was over. Ta.
“But to properly exercise my discretion, I am not going to shoot him out of the hips here on the bench,” he added. “I want to take the time necessary to carefully consider everything you put before me and said today. I am considering all of that. I consider everything appropriate, I want to make sure I’m not considering anything inappropriate. And I’m very narrow with making reasonable decisions that take my role in understanding here.”
This story has been updated with additional developments.