New York Mayor Eric Adams in the spotlight in the US... Shock directive from Trump: Resignation earthquake at the Department of Justice

The political agenda in the US has been shaken by the latest developments regarding the corruption case against New York Mayor Eric Adams. The dropping of charges against Adams, who was under investigation for allegedly accepting bribes from Turkey, by order of President Donald Trump's administration, has triggered a wave of resignations at the Department of Justice.

On Monday, the US Department of Justice instructed federal prosecutors in New York to drop the corruption charges against Adams. The reason cited for the decision was the claim that the case could harm Trump's efforts to combat illegal immigration. However, this directive has drawn significant backlash on the grounds that it violates judicial independence and constitutes political interference in the judiciary.

RESIGNATIONS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE

This decision has caused a major crisis within the Department of Justice. Six high-level Department of Justice officials, including the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, resigned on Thursday in opposition to the Trump administration's directive.

According to internal Department of Justice correspondence obtained by Reuters, Danielle Sassoon, who was appointed as the Manhattan US Attorney under the guidance of Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove—a Trump appointee—refused to comply with the order to drop the charges against Adams and stepped down from her post.

In her resignation letter, Sassoon stated that she was preparing a new indictment accusing Adams of destroying evidence and encouraging others to do the same. However, she announced that this process had been halted due to pressure from the Trump administration.

Following Sassoon, the Trump administration tasked John Keller, the Acting Chief of the Public Corruption Unit at the Department of Justice, with dropping the case. However, Keller also refused to carry out this order and resigned.

According to sources speaking to Reuters, in addition to Keller, Kevin Driscoll, a senior official in the criminal division of the Department of Justice, also left his post. Furthermore, three other assistant prosecutors in the Department of Justice's public corruption unit—Rob Heberle, Jenn Clarke, and Marco Palmieri—also resigned in protest of the dropping of charges against Adams.

A Department of Justice official confirmed the resignations of Keller and Driscoll but did not provide a statement regarding the other three individuals.

SWIFT MOVE BY TRUMP

Since beginning his second term in the White House, President Trump has been criticized for making sweeping changes within the Department of Justice to create a structure that would drop charges against him.

More than a dozen prosecutors who filed charges in two cases opened against Trump in 2023 have been removed from their positions. Additionally, some FBI officials and prosecutors who worked on investigations into the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by Trump supporters have also been fired.

These moves by Trump are interpreted as an attempt to turn judicial processes against his political rivals in his favor. Legal circles state that the dropping of charges against Adams deals a heavy blow to the independence of the judiciary within the Department of Justice.

WHAT HAD HAPPENED?

A five-count indictment had been prepared against the Democrat Adams last year, accusing him of accepting free travel and political donations from foreign nationals in exchange for taking actions that would benefit Turkey.

The 64-year-old Adams had announced that he was innocent. Adams argued that he was being unfairly targeted because he criticized the Biden administration's immigration policy following the rise in migration to New York, the most populous city in the US.

Adams, who began his term as Mayor of New York in 2022 as an ally of Biden, saw tensions rise between the parties when he requested an increase in funding provided to New York to combat the influx of immigrants.

Adams, who has recently established close relations with Trump, attended Trump's inauguration ceremony on January 20.

In December, before taking office, Trump said he might consider pardoning the mayor.