The U.S. attorney in charge of federal prosecutors in New York City’s borough of Manhattan resigned on Feb. 13 after a directive to drop corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Danielle Sassoon, interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, has stepped down, a spokesperson for the office confirmed.
Sassoon, a Republican, was elevated to the position on Jan. 21, the day after President Donald Trump took office.
The U.S. Department of Justice, of which the prosecutorial office is part, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Adams’s attorney and spokesperson did not return inquiries by publication time.
Bove said the timing of the charges threatened the case’s integrity because they came after Adams criticized former President Joe Biden’s administration over its handling of immigration. He also said the prosecution “has unduly restricted Mayor Adams’s ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated under the policies of the prior Administration.”
Bove said prosecutors should end the case, but without prejudice—which means that it can be refiled later—and that whoever becomes the Senate-confirmed U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York should, following New York City’s fall 2025 mayoral election, review the matter. Trump has nominated Jay Clayton, former chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, to the post.
“There shall be no further targeting of Mayor Adams or additional investigative steps prior to that review, and you are further directed to take all steps within your power to cause Mayor Adams’s security clearances to be restored,” Bove said.
Bove had directed that the case be dismissed as soon as practicable. Days went by with no public statements or actions by Sassoon’s office.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi, head of the Department of Justice, told reporters in an unrelated briefing that she had not spoken to Sassoon and that Bove had.
“That case should be dropped,” Bondi said. “I did not know that it had not been dropped yet, but I'll certainly look into that.”
Adams met with Trump’s border czar, Tom Homan, earlier on Feb. 13 at a federal building in the city. Neither man spoke to reporters after the closed-door meeting.
Republican members of the New York City Council who met separately with Homan before he met with the mayor said Homan hoped that Adams would support efforts to roll back the city’s rules and regulations that limit officials from cooperating with federal immigration agents.
Several other U.S. attorneys, including Erek L. Barron, the U.S. attorney for the District of Maryland, have also resigned recently. Newly sworn-in presidents typically install new U.S. attorneys. President Joe Biden retained only a handful who had been in place.
