New York City Mayor Eric Adams secured a significant legal victory on Wednesday after a federal court judge permanently had the corruption charge against him thrown out. The decision closes out a dramatic and politically high-profile drama connected with charges of wire fraud and bribery that involved a multiyear conspiracy to seek improper foreign sources of campaign financing.
The charges had first been brought in September 2024, and Adams was the first current New York City mayor to have been indicted on a federal indictment by a federal grand jury in recent times. The case had overshadowed Adams during his reelection campaign, and the indictment triggered a cascade of resignations of senior Justice Department officials, who criticized the move to dismiss the case as politically motivated.
The Trump Justice Department initially wanted the charges to be dismissed but wished to retain the ability to bring them at some point in the future, keeping the prosecution door open. US District Judge Dale Ho, though, denied this notion, declaring that it would put undue pressure on Adams, giving the impression that Adams’s freedom would hinge upon the satisfaction of the Trump administration’s demands, the most being enforcing immigration.
In his 78-page ruling, Judge Ho emphasized that having the charges in reserve would damage the mayor’s independence, rendering him more beholden to federal interests than to the interests of his constituents. With the charges dismissed now irrevocably, Adams can pursue his political future, including running again in a crowded Democratic primary field.
Adams had barely campaigned, staying away from big forums and campaigning on a skeleton staff. But the mayor claimed to feel vindicated by the ruling, brandishing a book by Trump’s former FBI director, Kash Patel, which Adams believes is the key to understanding the motive behind the charges.
While the DOJ’s spokesman had described the case as political weaponization, the judge’s ruling brings to a close a chapter that had loomed over Adams’ political and leadership future for so long, clearing the way for him in the following primary season.
