Judge Permanently Dismisses Corruption Case Against Mayor Eric Adams

A federal judge overseeing the federal corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams has moved to permanently dismiss the charges, without the ability to bring it back to life at the state level, according to multiple reports.

Judge Dale Ho brought an official end to the case following orders from the Trump administration’s U.S. Department of Justice and ruling out prison time for the embattled mayor.

“Let me be clear, as I said all along, this case should have never, should have never been brought and I did nothing wrong,” Adams said Wednesday afternoon outside Gracie Mansion following the decision. “I’m now happy that our city can finally close the book on this and focus solely on the future of our great city.” 

In February, President Donald Trump directed the Department of Justice to drop the historic case accusing Adams of taking part in a straw donor scheme before it could see its day in court. 

However, it ordered the case to be dismissed “without prejudice” — meaning it could be reopened in the future — and said the charges impacted Adams’s ability to work with the federal government on its crackdown of undocumented immigrants in the city. The move sparked the resignation of prosecutors in the Southern District of New York’s office.

Ho went with the recommendations from court-appointed lawyer, Paul Clement, to put an end to the inquiry “with prejudice.” Ho explained that the only way to prevent future perception of quid pro quo between Adams and the Trump administration would be to prevent the charges from being revived.

“In light of DOJ’s rationales, dismissing the case without prejudice would create the unavoidable perception that the mayor’s freedom depends on his ability to carry out the immigration enforcement priorities of the administration, and that he might be more beholden to the demands of the federal government than to the wishes of his own constituents,” Ho wrote in his 78-page decision. “That appearance is inevitable, and it counsels in favor of dismissal with prejudice.”

Jordan Barowitz, a political consultant, agreed with the way the judge handled the dismissal.

“No matter what you thought of the charges, dismissing with prejudice makes almost everyone breathe a little easier,” Barowitz told Commercial Observer.

Kathryn Wilde, president of the Partnership for New York City, believes that the decision signals to New Yorkers that the mayor can now act independently of the White House.

“This is a good result for the mayor and our city, since it mitigates concerns that the Trump Administration has inappropriate influence over decisions of the mayor,” Wilde said.

But the damage to Adams’s public image has taken a beating since the FBI revealed the allegations of a bribery scheme between the mayor and the Turkish government going back to his time as a candidate regarding the alleged use of straw donors to siphon additional funds from the New York City Campaign Finance Board’s Matching Funds program.

The program matches contributions eight-to-one for every dollar contributed to a qualifying campaign, with limitations, and the criminal complaint against Adams alleged that he had explicitly directed staff to accept straw donors. The Turkish government also allegedly provided travel perks to Adams while the city fast-tracked the certificate of occupancy for its new consulate.

Mark Hallum can be reached at mhallum@commercialobserver.com.