A top U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) official suggested on Feb. 19 that DOJ employees are welcome to leave if their views diverge from those of the current department leaders.
“For those at the Department who are with me in those battles and understand that there are no separate sovereigns in this Executive Branch, we’re going to do great things to make America safe again,” acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a statement to news outlets. “For those who do not support our critical mission, I understand there are templates for resignation letters available on the websites of the New York Times and CNN.”
The reasons for some of the resignations remain unclear, while several have said they stepped down over Bove’s decision to ask a judge to drop charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
The DOJ did not respond to a request for information, including how many officials have resigned since Bove announced his decision and how many resignations came after Bove’s latest statement.
Bove drew widespread attention when he ordered Sassoon to request that a federal court dismiss corruption charges against Adams, a Democrat who frequently criticized former President Joe Biden. Bove said statements made by the previous U.S. attorney in New York could prejudice the jury pool against Adams and that continuing the prosecution would impair the mayor’s ability to govern.
Sassoon stepped down, alleging that the move would stem from “improper considerations.” Hagan Scotten, a prosecutor in the same office, also resigned over the order.
During a Feb. 19 hearing on the government’s motion, which Bove himself eventually filed, Bove said the DOJ was exercising prosecutorial discretion based on one of Trump’s executive orders, which aimed at dealing with what Trump described as the weaponization of the justice system by the previous administration.
Bove reiterated that the decision was made without assessing the strength of the evidence in the case.
The request is “virtually unreviewable in this courtroom,” he said.
“Frankly, I think the fact that Mayor Adams is sitting to my left right now is part of the problem,” Bove said later. “He’s not able to be out running the city and campaigning. I think that is actual interference with the election.”
Lawyers for Adams said that no appeals court has ever sided with a judge who rejected an unopposed motion to dismiss a criminal case.
U.S. District Judge Dale Ho, who is overseeing the case, questioned Adams about the government seeking to dismiss the charges without prejudice, which would enable them to be refiled at a later date if prosecutors choose.
“I understand that, judge,” Adams said. “I have not committed a crime, and I don’t see them bringing it back.”
Bove said in his statement that he traveled to New York “to show the men and women of the Justice Department as well as the American people that I am personally committed to our shared fight: ending weaponized government, stopping the invasion of criminal illegal aliens, and eliminating drug cartels and transnational gangs from our homeland.”
