By Luc Cohen and Sarah N. Lynch
NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan and two high-ranking Justice Department officials in Washington have resigned after a top official ordered a corruption case against New York City’s mayor be dropped, people familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, the Trump administration’s recent pick to temporarily lead the office prosecuting New York Mayor Eric Adams, resigned her post on Thursday without giving a reason, a spokesperson for the office said.
John Keller, the acting head of the Justice Department’s public corruption unit, also resigned, two people familiar with the matter said. Kevin Driscoll, a senior official in the department’s criminal division, has also resigned, one of the people said.
The resignations come after acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove on Monday ordered Sassoon to drop corruption charges against Adams, a Democrat who has forged ties with Republican President Donald Trump, in what former prosecutors called a sign of political interference.
According to a person briefed on the matter, Sassoon refused to comply with the directive to dismiss the case, and Trump’s administration then directed Keller’s office to do so. Keller resigned rather than comply, the person said.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Adams has pleaded not guilty to charges he accepted bribes from Turkish officials. The mayor has argued the charges were brought by Sassoon’s predecessor during former Democratic President Joe Biden’s tenure as retaliation for his criticism of Biden’s immigration policies.
The Southern District of New York, known for bringing high-profile cases on financial crimes, public corruption and national security, has long been known for its independence from the Justice Department in Washington.
Prosecutors in the Southern District have not yet filed a formal motion seeking to have the case dismissed three days after Bove’s Monday order that the case be dropped.
It was not immediately clear who would take Sassoon’s place.
A half-dozen former SDNY prosecutors told Reuters that the order from Bove, himself a former SDNY prosecutor who also served as Trump’s personal criminal defense lawyer, raised questions about whether the office can remain independent of political pressure during Trump’s second White House term.
In his memo, Bove said the decision to drop the case had nothing to do with its merits. Instead, he wrote that the case was distracting Adams from helping Trump crack down on illegal immigration, one of the Republican president’s top priorities.
Trump has overhauled the Justice Department to end what he calls its weaponization against political opponents during former Democratic President Joe Biden’s administration, but which critics say threatens to subject the department to political whims.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
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