CNN
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The U.S. Department of Justice plans to withdraw the federal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, as indicated in a memo obtained by CNN.

The memo, authored by Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, a former New York prosecutor, instructed the acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District, Danielle Sassoon, to dismiss the charges “as promptly as possible,” with certain stipulations, including a review following the November 2025 mayoral election.

Last year, the Justice Department filed public corruption charges against Adams, a member of the Democratic Party, marking the first instance of a sitting mayor being prosecuted in the city’s recent history. Adams pleaded not guilty, with the trial originally scheduled for this spring.

In a statement, Alex Spiro, Adams’ attorney who has also represented Trump ally Elon Musk, remarked, “From the beginning, I’ve maintained the mayor’s innocence — today, that is evident.” Spiro further told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins that “he would have been acquitted in just 45 minutes.”

A representative for the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York opted not to comment. Similarly, a spokesperson for Adams’ administration declined to provide a statement, directing inquiries to the mayor’s attorney.

The memo outlines two main reasons for the dismissal request: the belief that the case has been influenced by media coverage and that it hampers Adams’ ability to effectively perform his duties as mayor.

“The ongoing prosecution has significantly limited Mayor Adams’ capacity to focus fully on critical issues, such as illegal immigration and rising violent crime, which have escalated under the previous administration’s policies,” Bove stated.

Facing reelection this fall, Adams was indicted in September for charges related to accepting extravagant travel benefits and receiving illegal campaign contributions from Turkish nationals in exchange for political favors, including influencing city agencies to act in favor of the donors.

Adams has consistently denied any wrongdoing. Since the indictment, he has claimed that the prosecution was politically motivated as a result of his criticisms regarding the Biden administration’s handling of a surge in migrant arrivals beginning in the spring of 2022.

“It cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams openly criticized the prior administration’s immigration policy before the charges were laid,” Bove noted in the memo.

The trial was scheduled to commence this spring, mere months before the city’s Democratic primary, where Adams faces a competitive field of challengers.

For several months, Adams has countered speculation regarding a potential withdrawal from the race. During a recent interfaith breakfast with city clergy, he labeled rumors about his possible resignation as “absurd.”

In recent weeks, several of the city’s Democratic lawmakers have intensified their criticism, suggesting the mayor has been slow to respond to President Donald Trump’s policies — particularly his executive order to withhold federal funding to cities not cooperating with the administration’s immigration enforcement.

Speculation about a possible pardon or case dismissal began surfacing in October, shortly after the formal charges were announced.

Adams had been noncommittal in the lead-up to the presidential election, at one point avoiding mention of Kamala Harris when repeatedly asked if he would support the Democratic nominee.

In October, Trump appeared to sympathize with the mayor, suggesting that the prosecution was politically motivated in response to Adams’ critique of the Biden administration’s handling of the migrant crisis.

“We were persecuted, Eric. I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric,” Trump expressed to the mayor during his address at the Al Smith charity dinner in New York.

Adams, who registered as a Republican in the 1990s, also attended Trump’s inauguration and visited him at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida the previous month.

The memo from Bove notes that the DOJ is making its decision “without evaluating the strength of the evidence or the legal principles involved” and does not discuss a potential pardon for Adams.

This report has been updated with new information.