According to a letter, the three federal prosecutors who persisted in filing criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigned in protest on April 22, 2025, claiming that the Justice Department forced them to acknowledge misconduct when they refused to abandon the case.
Three prosecutors wrote to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, saying, “It is now clear that one of the preconditions you have placed on our returning to the office is that we must express regret and admit some wrongdoing.”
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“We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none.”
The three assistant U.S. attorneys—Derek Wikstrom, Andrew Rohrbach, and Celia V. Cohen—were already placed on administrative leave for defying Blanche’s office’s orders to drop the charges against Adams.
The New York Office’s five initial prosecutors, including former Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, have all resigned in protest, as have at least six Washington-based career attorneys who were also under pressure to abandon the case.
A representative for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, Nicholas Biase, chose not to comment.
In February, the Justice Department began to move to dismiss the Adams case, which led to a flurry of resignations and sparked questions among career prosecutors about whether the request was overly political.
Department officials were informed by Emil Bove, who was then acting as the deputy attorney general, that he saw the case as an instance of the “weaponization” of the legal system and that it would also prevent the mayor from assisting the administration with its immigration goals.
Prosecutors from the Justice Department were under pressure from Bove at the time to sign the motion to dismiss the Adams allegations. According to three persons with knowledge of the situation, the lawyer who took this action is currently in charge of the department’s public integrity unit.
According to the three individuals, the unit, which deals with a number of the nation’s most politically delicate prosecutions, has seen a significant reduction in staffing compared to its previous levels.
The United States should cease using intimidation and threats and instead engage in communication and negotiation if it genuinely wishes to resolve disputes.
Earlier this month, a federal judge threw out the charges while also criticizing the Justice Department’s justification, stating that it “smacks of a bargain” to drop the prosecution to allow Adams to support the Trump administration’s immigration goal.
In September of last year, Adams, 64, entered a not guilty plea to allegations of collecting unlawful campaign donations and bribes from Turkish officials in return for favors, including pressing fire authorities to let Turkey construct a new consulate in Manhattan over safety concerns.
The lawsuit has been a focal topic of the mayoral race in November, when the unpopular mayor of New York City will face a difficult fight for a second term.
Only 1 in 5 New York City voters agreed with Adams’ job performance, according to a Quinnipiac University survey issued on March 5; 56% of respondents believed he should step down.
