Judge cancels trial for New York City Mayor Eric Adams but leaves corruption charges intact for now

NEW YORK (AP) — A federal judge on Friday cancelled the corruption trial for New York City Mayor Eric Adams and appointed counsel to advise him on how to handle the Justice Department’s controversial request to drop charges against the Democrat.

Judge Dale E. Ho's written order means he won't decide before mid-March whether to grant the dismissal of the case against the embattled mayor of the nation’s largest city.

At a hearing Wednesday, Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove cited an executive order by President Donald Trump outlining his criminal justice priorities as he defended the request to drop charges.

Adams confirmed at the hearing that he accepted that charges could later be reinstated, a feature of the request to dismiss charges that has led critics to suggest that the mayor would be required to carry out Trump's plans to round up New Yorkers who are in the country illegally if he wanted to remain free from prosecution.

The request is “virtually unreviewable in this courtroom,” Bove argued.

Adams was indicted in September and accused of accepting more than $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and travel perks from a Turkish official and business leaders seeking to buy influence while he was Brooklyn borough president. He faces multiple challengers in June’s Democratic primary. He has pleaded not guilty and has insisted on his innocence.

At Wednesday's hearing, Ho raised the possibility that he could appoint a lawyer to advise him on future steps.

He did so on Friday when he said he'd appointed Paul Clement, a former U.S. solicitor general and acting U.S. attorney general, as amicus curiae to present arguments on the government's request to throw out the charges.

Ho said he wanted all parties and Clement to address the legal standard for dismissing charges, whether a court may consider materials beyond the motion itself and under what circumstances additional procedural steps and further inquiry would be necessary.

He also said he wants to know under what circumstances, dismissal can occur without the ability to reinstate charges or with the ability to reinstate charges. He scheduled briefs to be filed by March 7 and, if necessary, oral arguments to occur on March 14.

Late Thursday, three former U.S. attorneys — from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey — submitted a letter urging Ho to “hear from parties other than the government and the defendant in deciding about the appropriate next steps.”In court on Wednesday, Adams’ lawyer, Alex Spiro, said no appeals court has ever sided with a judge who rejected an unopposed motion to dismiss a criminal case. Until about 80 years ago, such requests were granted automatically, without a judge weighing in.

Adams will not be required to attend future hearings, the judge said.

That could help mitigate some political damage for Adams as he could avoid being hauled back to court for hearings while he tries to convince the public that the case isn’t distracting him from running the city.

Adams has sought to project calm as questions over his independence have sparked a political crisis in his administration.

This week, four of his top deputies resigned and Gov. Kathy Hochul announced that she had for now decided against removing Adams from office but would instead propose legislation to enhance state oversight of City Hall as a way to reestablish trust with New Yorkers

Bove's initial request last week to then-interim U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon to drop charges against Adams was rejected and she resigned.

Another prosecutor, Hagan Scotten, told Bove in a resignation letter that it would take a “fool” or a “coward” to meet Bove’s demand, “but it was never going to be me.”

In all, seven prosecutors, including five high-ranking prosecutors at the Justice Department in Washington, had resigned last week before Bove made the request himself, along with two other prosecutors from Washington, to drop the case.

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Associated Press Writer Jennifer Peltz and Anthony Izaguirre contributed to this story.