Washington, D.C. (March 3, 2025)—Today, Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Oversight, demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi immediately end the cover-ups and retaliations within the Department of Justice (DOJ). The demand comes after the Trump Administration’s lawless order that federal prosecutors move to dismiss the public corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams as part of a corrupt bargain to buy the Mayor’s obedience in immigration enforcement.
“Last month, troubling reports emerged about the Trump Administration’s demand that federal prosecutors move to dismiss the serious public corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams as part of a blatant and illegal quid pro quo to secure the Mayor’s loyal assistance in executing the Trump administration’s mass arrest and deportation policies. Not only did the Department of Justice (DOJ) attempt to pressure career prosecutors into carrying out this illegal quid pro quo, it appears that Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove was personally engaged in a cover-up by destroying evidence and retaliating against career prosecutors who refused to follow his illegal and unethical orders. […] Unfortunately, this is yet another example of the Trump DOJ allowing criminals to go free—whether they assaulted police officers, sold drugs to the community, or are corrupt politicians—as long as the criminals pledge loyalty to President Trump,” wrote the Ranking Members in the letter to Bondi.
On February 10, 2025, the DOJ abruptly instructed prosecutors from the Southern District of New York (SDNY) to dismiss five felony charges against Eric Adams, following the Mayor’s months-long effort to curry favor with President Donald Trump.
Following DOJ’s directive to dismiss the charges, alarming reports emerged on February 13, 2025, that senior officials in the U.S. Attorney’s office in SDNY, DOJ Public Integrity Section, and the DOJ Criminal Division had resigned after refusing to follow unlawful instructions from the Trump Administration to dismiss the case brought against Mayor Adams. Resignation letters, including those by Danielle Sassoon, a staunch conservative, former law clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia, and Trump’s interim United States Attorney for SDNY, and Hagan Scotten, a former law clerk to both Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Chief Justice John Roberts, revealed a stunning account of a corrupt bargain the DOJ struck with Mayor Adams, as well as an attempted cover-up.
Sassoon’s letter revealed a January 31, 2025, meeting attended by prosecutors from the SDNY, Trump DOJ officials, including Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, and members of Mayor Adams’ legal team. According to Sassoon, Adams’ attorneys “repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with the Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed.” Sassoon’s letter also stated that Mr. Bove demanded the collection of all notes taken during the meeting, in an apparent attempt to cover up the corrupt deal.
After that meeting, Mr. Bove directed SDNY prosecutors to drop the charges against Adams, prompting the resignation of Ms. Sassoon and six additional senior prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and Main Justice, including Mr. Scotten. Press reports indicate that, on the same day those instructions were given, Adams instructed leaders across New York City government to not criticize Donald Trump. Three days later, Adams re-opened the ICE office on Rikers Island, reversing a 2014 New York City banning ICE from the Rikers jail complex.
During a February 14, 2025, interview with Fox and Friends, Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan confirmed the corrupt bargain on air, stating: “If [Mayor Adams] doesn’t come through … I’ll be in his office, up his butt, saying, Where the hell is the agreement we came to.”
Ranking Members Raskin and Crockett demanded Bondi produce relevant documents and information, including communications between the White House and DOJ officials, by March 17, 2025.
Click here to read the letter.
