Manhattan’s top career federal prosecutor resigned after attorneys in her office were directed to drop their criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, three sources familiar with the matter confirmed to CBS News.
Danielle Sassoon stepped down from her role as acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York on Thursday, days after a top Justice Department official ordered her office to dismiss corruption charges against the mayor.
On Monday, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove sent a memo instructing prosecutors in Manhattan to abandon the five-count indictment that was filed in September.
“You are directed, as authorized by the Attorney General, to dismiss the pending charges,” Bove wrote, adding that the department “reached this conclusion without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based,” and “in no way calls into question the integrity and efforts” of the prosecutors who brought the case.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
Bove also cited Adams’ “restricted” ability to help the Trump administration enforce its immigration policies. The case was to be dropped without prejudice until the mayoral election later this year, pending a review by the U.S. attorney’s office. So it’s possible the charges could be revived at a later time.
Adams was set to go to trial on the charges — which included bribery and campaign finance violations — in April. He pleaded not guilty and denied wrongdoing.
Despite the Justice Department’s order, federal prosecutors in Sassoon’s office had not yet complied with the directive on Thursday, a signal of a potential conflict between the office that filed the charges against Adams and the Trump administration’s new leadership.
During a press conference on Wednesday, when the Justice Department announced a civil lawsuit against New York State officials, Attorney General Pam Bondi said she was unaware that prosecutors in the Southern District of New York had not yet complied with Bove’s order.
Sassoon was appointed interim head of the office while President Trump’s pick to be Manhattan’s U.S. attorney, Jay Clayton, makes his way through the Ssenate confirmation process.
Sassons’s departure came after a number of Biden-appointed U.S. attorneys from across the country were fired from their positions this week, multiple sources confirmed to CBS News. Changes in top federal prosecutor jobs are customary and expected around the time of presidential transitions.
The U.S. attorneys received notes in their inboxes informing them of their terminations, which sources said was a departure from past practice in which they were asked to submit their resignations.
The exact number of affected offices remains unclear.
contributed to this report.
