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"It's time to do your job and stop this outrageous sabotage of justice in the interests of naked political corruption," said the lawmaker.
Amid reports that attorneys in the Public Integrity Section at the U.S. Department of Justice—those tasked with fighting political corruption—were being intimidated into dismissing the federal criminal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Friday, Congressman Jamie Raskin demanded that Attorney General Pam Bondi "immediately halt" the actions of DOJ leaders.
A day after three top federal prosecutors in New York and Washington resigned following a demand from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to drop the case against Adams, MSNBC legal analyst and former U.S. Attorney Barb McQuade reported that DOJ leaders had given the remaining lawyers in the anti-corruption unit an ultimatum.
They "put all Public Integrity Section lawyers into a room with one hour to decide who will dismiss [the] Adams indictment or else all will be fired," said McQuade.
Reutersreported Friday afternoon that one of the attorneys, veteran prosecutor Ed Sullivan, agreed to file a motion to dismiss the charges in order to spare the jobs of his colleagues in the Public Integrity Section.
On Thursday, Danielle R. Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, resigned after receiving a memo from Bove saying the charges against Adams would interfere with his ability to fight "illegal immigration and violent crime."
The acting head of the Public Integrity Section and the acting head of the DOJ's Criminal Division also refused to drop the case and resigned.
Adams was charged with bribery, campaign finance violations, and conspiracy offenses last year, with U.S. attorneys saying an investigation had found that he allegedly took bribes from foreign nationals, including to allow a skyscraper in Manhattan to open without a fire inspection.
In a letter to Bondi, Sassoon wrote that "Adams' attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with department's enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed."
A lawyer for Adams toldThe New York Times Thursday that the allegation of a quid pro quo was "a total lie," but President Donald Trump's border czar, Thomas Homan, alluded to the deal in a Fox News appearance with Adams on Friday.
"If he doesn't come through," said Homan, "I'll be in his office, up his butt, saying, 'Where the hell is the agreement we came to?'"
Vanessa Cárdenas, executive director of immigrant rights group America's Voice, said the Trump administration's engagement in the alleged deal reflected the president's "obsessive focus on mass deportations."
"His obsession to purge America of immigrants seems to have no limit: cutting a quid pro quo with Mayor Adams, to drop criminal charges in return for immigrant roundups; diverting resources from stopping fentanyl at ports of entry to deport workers; gutting entire immigrant-dependent industries that put food on the table and keep prices low; and intruding into the homes and apartments and going door-to-door to instill fear among people mostly legal, many citizens," she said.
Raskin (D-Md.) demanded that Bondi "put an immediate halt to this illegal and unconscionable intimidation campaign."
"Your Department of Justice has been caught engaging in a corrupt deal with Mayor Adams and now attempting to cover it up," he said in a statement. "It's time to do your job and stop this outrageous sabotage of justice in the interests of naked political corruption."
"Wildfires are ravaging these children's communities in California, but the court claims that their suffering is too 'indirect' to matter," said the plaintiffs' lawyer. "This ruling is nothing short of judicial dereliction."
With Californians still reeling from what is expected to be "the costliest wildfire disaster in American history," a federal judge in the state on Tuesday dismissed a constitutional climate case that young people brought against the U.S. government.
The firm Our Children's Trust filed the equal protection lawsuit on behalf of 18 children in the Central District of California on December 10, 2023. Genesis B. v. United States Environmental Protection Agency initially just targeted the EPA and its administrator, but the plaintiffs later added the Office of Management and Budget and its director as defendants.
Since the beginning of the case, the Biden administration fought for its dismissal. U.S. District Judge Michael Fitzgerald, an appointee of Democratic former President Barack Obama, previously dismissed the case last May but also allowed the youth plaintiffs' lawyers to amend their complaint. The judge dismissed the case again on Tuesday, the first major development since Republican President Donald Trump—a noted enemy of climate action—returned to the White House last month.
"We are fighting not just for ourselves, but for every young person who deserves a world where their lives, their health, and their future matter."
Responding in a Tuesday statement, Our Children's Trust slammed the "extraordinary decision to dismiss the case by disregarding key evidence showing the harmful effects of the EPA's policies and the unique vulnerability of children's bodies to climate pollution," highlighting expert testimony from economist Joseph Stiglitz and Dr. Elizabeth Pinsky, a psychiatrist and pediatrician.
"By dismissing this case, the court is turning a blind eye to the real-world harms youth are enduring right now. Wildfires are ravaging these children's communities in California, but the court claims that their suffering is too 'indirect' to matter," said Julia Olson, chief legal counsel for the plaintiffs.
"This ruling is nothing short of judicial dereliction in the face of a climate emergency," she asserted. "The court refused to consider that the government's devaluation of children isn't just bad policy—it's a violation of fundamental equal rights."
The young plaintiffs also expressed disappointment with Fitzgerald's decision in the wake of January blazes that experts tied to the climate emergency—specifically, the World Weather Attribution found that fossil fuel-driven global warming made the weather conditions that caused the Los Angeles County fires 35% more probable.
"The court's decision to dismiss this case before we could even present our evidence is a gut punch," lead plaintiff Genesis B said Tuesday. "We are living with the consequences of these policies every single day—wildfires, choking smoke, evacuation orders. And now, with the strongest storm of the year set to hit Southern California this week, our case is more urgent than ever."
"Forecasters are warning of widespread flooding, landslides, and dangerous debris flows, especially in areas devastated by wildfires," Genesis B. explained. "We wanted the chance to show the court the science, the economics, and the lived experiences that prove the government's actions are harming us. Instead, we were denied that opportunity. He just shut the door on us, made up his own facts, and never listened to the real experts. He never gave us the opportunity to testify."
The 18 young plaintiffs are not backing down! They remain committed to fighting for their constitutional rights and will continue to pursue all available legal avenues to hold the U.S. government accountable for its actions. Read the PR: bit.ly/GenesisPR0225 #YouthvGov #GenesisvEPA
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— Our Children’s Trust (@youthvgov.bsky.social) February 11, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Despite the setback in court on Tuesday, the young plaintiffs in this case are determined to keep fighting and are now considering potential next steps with their lawyers.
"We are not backing down. This fight is about refusing to let our lives be discounted, and we won't stand by as our future is treated as expendable," declared plaintiff Maya W. "We are fighting not just for ourselves, but for every young person who deserves a world where their lives, their health, and their future matter."
This case is just one of many that young people have pursued in recent years, some of which are ongoing and many that involve Our Children's Trust. The group said that earlier Tuesday, attorneys representing a dozen youth plaintiffs in the constitutional climate case Layla H. v. Virginia presented their case virtually before the state Supreme Court.
In another Our Children's Trust case, Juliana v. United States, 43 members of Congress last month submitted a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the 21 plaintiffs. That filing came less than a month after the Montana Supreme Court upheld a 2023 decision that the state government's promotion of fossil fuels violates young residents' state constitutional rights. Earlier last year, Hawaii's governor and Department of Transportation announced an "unprecedented" settlement in another youth climate case.
"It's official: Eric Adams' shameless campaign to avoid legal accountability for corruption has succeeded," said one member of the New York State Assembly.
New York officials, lawmakers, and activists expressed fury on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump's Justice Department instructed prosecutors to drop federal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a move seen as an overtly corrupt deal aimed at giving the White House free rein to attack the city's immigrant communities.
In a letter sent on Monday, the Trump Justice Department instructed federal prosecutors to "dismiss the pending charges" against Adams, which include several counts of bribery, fraud, and soliciting illegal foreign campaign donations.
The letter, sent by Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, states that the Justice Department reached its decision to call for an end to the case against Adams "without assessing the strength of the evidence or legal theories on which the case is based."
Instead, the Justice Department claimed the pending prosecution of Adams "unduly restricted" his "ability to devote full attention and resources" to cooperating with the Trump administration's anti-immigrant agenda. Attorney Luppe B. Luppen called the letter "one of the most openly corrupt writings I've seen on DOJ letterhead," adding that "it's comically, transparently a political favor, and the quid pro quo is utterly explicit."
Jumaane Williams, New York City's public advocate, said in a statement Tuesday that the Justice Department's directive shows Adams "adopted a strategy of selling out marginalized New Yorkers and our city's values to avoid personal and legal accountability."
"The mayor has always had the presumption of innocence—something he has rarely extended to the New Yorkers he's detained on Rikers pre-trial, or wanted deported based on accusations," Williams continued. "He said he wanted his day in court, but instead sidestepped that system using the privilege and power that so few people have access to. This is obscene and obvious—the White House doesn't want to lose their deputy in New York City."
"Eric Adams sold out New Yorkers to buy his own freedom, but he'll never escape the label of worst mayor in NYC history."
The DOJ's directive came in the wake of reports that Adams ordered top New York City officials to refrain from criticizing Trump or interfering with his mass deportation efforts. According to the local independent news outlet The City, Adams instructed his commissioners "to not be critical of the president or federal government on social media" and to "stop complaining about President Trump and move on because he was elected."
"The mayor has said he won't publicly criticize the president and has refused to criticize Trump's statements or actions when pressed by reporters," The City reported. "Trump said in December he would 'look at' potentially pardoning Adams, whose federal corruption trial is set to begin in April. It's fueled speculation that the mayor is acting chiefly to obtain a pardon or dropped charges from the president, even as Trump threatened to withhold crucial funding from the city."
New York State Assembly Member Zohran Mamdani (D-36), who is running in the 2025 New York City mayoral race,
said in response to the Trump DOJ's directive that "it's official: Eric Adams' shameless campaign to avoid legal accountability for corruption has succeeded."
"In the midst of a right-wing billionaire assault on the working class of our city, he sold us out for another personal favor," said Mamdani. "Election Day can't come soon enough."
People hold up a sign as Mayor Eric Adams speaks during the New York Public Library on January 30, 2025 in New York City. (Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
Politiconoted Monday that the DOJ's order "continues an emerging pattern of the administration of President Donald Trump dropping politically charged criminal cases he inherited when resuming the White House last month." The outlet added that it's an "open question" whether Dale Ho, the judge presiding over the Adams case, has any power to resist the Trump administration's push to drop the charges.
"While some legal experts said Ho's hands are tied," Politico observed, "others believe he could outright refuse."
New York State Sen. Jessica Ramos (D-13) wrote late Monday that "Eric Adams sold out New Yorkers to buy his own freedom, but he'll never escape the label of worst mayor in NYC history."
"Donald Trump may think this buys him access to terrorize our communities," Ramos added, "but New Yorkers always stand up for one another, no matter how many corrupt narcissists try to hurt our families."