The corruption case against New York City Democratic Mayor Eric Adams was dismissed “with prejudice” by a federal judge on Wednesday.
Adams was indicted on charges that included accepting overseas travel paid for by wealthy Turkish nationals. The mayor pleaded not guilty to the charges. The dismissal of the case “with prejudice” means the Department of Justice cannot bring charges against Adams in the future based on the same evidence, CNBC reported.
In his order on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Dale Ho denied the DOJ’s request to dismiss the case “without prejudice,” which would have allowed the federal government to resurrect the corruption charges against Adams in the future. Ho wrote that a dismissal 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.”
After President Donald Trump was sworn into office, the DOJ dropped its corruption case against Adams, saying, “Prosecutorial misconduct and political agendas will no longer be tolerated.” Senior Trump administration officials have argued that the Biden administration targeted Adams after the Democratic mayor pushed back on President Joe Biden’s immigration policies. Adams criticized the former president multiple times over the lack of border security as New York City experienced waves of illegal immigrants coming to its streets throughout the Biden years.
Shortly after the Trump administration dropped the case against Adams, the mayor teamed up with Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, to crack down on violent illegal immigrants in New York City. During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” in February, Adams pushed back against allegations of a quid pro quo with the Trump DOJ. Adams called the allegations “silly,” adding that he has been calling for more immigration enforcement in NYC since 2022 — before the bribery charges were brought against him.
Adams is up for re-election this year and faces an uphill battle in the Democratic primary, which will be decided in June. Former New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo is currently leading in the polls, while Queens Assemblyman Zohran Momdani sits in second place. Adams has yet to officially register for the primary.
