The Justice Department ordered Manhattan prosecutors Monday to dismiss the historic bribery case against Mayor Eric Adams — siding with Hizzoner that the charges by the Biden administration were nothing more than politically motivated and hampered his ability to combat the migrant crisis in New York City, The Post has confirmed.
The new DOJ under President Donald Trump instructed the Southern District of New York to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning charges could be re-filed in the future, sources said.
“You are directed, as authorized by the Attorney General, to dismiss the pending charges” against Adams, Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove wrote in a letter obtained by The Post.
The letter notes “independent reasons” as to why Adams’ case was being tossed — including that the case was retribution for him speaking out against the Biden administration for its handling of the migrant crisis.
“It cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior Administration’s immigration policies before the charges were filed, and the former US Attorney’s public actions created appearances of impropriety…”
Bove wrote that the charges have “improperly interfered with Mayor Adams’ campaign in the 2025 mayoral election” and also has “unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated under the policies of the prior Administration.”
Bove’s letter also notes that “the matter shall be reviewed by the confirmed US Attorney in the Southern District of New York, following the November 2025 mayoral election.”
“There shall be no further targeting of Mayor Adams or additional investigative steps … and you are further directed to take all steps within your power to cause Mayor Adams’ security clearances to be restored,” he wrote.
A rep for SDNY declined to comment.
The stunning turn of events appears to signal the end of the years-long criminal probe into Adams’ 2021 mayoral campaign that has hung over Hizzoner’s head during his scandal-plagued first term in office.
Adams, 64, who was indicted in September, was accused of accepting thousands of dollars in free or upgraded luxury travel as bribes from foreign nationals in exchange for political favors, including helping fast-track the opening of the Turkish Consulate in Manhattan.
At the time, he ripped the Biden administration’s “broken immigration policies” that’s flooded the Big Apple with hundreds of thousands of migrants — costing the city nearly $7 billion — and said he was being targeted for speaking out.
The dismissal motion comes after weeks of Adams trying to get in Trump’s good graces by going out of his way to not criticize the president and publicly align himself with new immigration policies.
Adams also hurried down to Trump’s inauguration on a middle-of-the-night invite hours before the ceremony and flew to have lunch with the then-president-elect at one of his golf clubs near Mar-a-Lago.
In addition, his celebrity attorney Alex Spiro had been working through legal back channels to find some way out of the case with either a pardon or dismissal.
On Jan. 31, the mayor’s defense team met with some of the highest members of the DOJ in Washington D.C.
“As I said from the outset, the mayor is innocent—and he would prevail. Today he has,” Spiro said in a statement.
“The facts of the case are clear: the mayor never used his official position for personal benefit. Nor did he have any role in violating campaign finance laws. Despite a lot of fanfare and sensational claims, ultimately there was no evidence presented that he broke any laws, ever. The witnesses that were promised never materialized. The additional charges that were threatened never came. Now, thankfully, the mayor and New York can put this unfortunate and misguided prosecution behind them.”
Unencumbered by the looming potential prison time, Adams can now pivot to what still is expected to be a bruising primary with a slate of Dems looking to dethrone a seemingly vulnerable incumbent mayor.
The bribery case, though, was just one of the issues that dragged down Adams’ poll numbers to record lows — including crime, the migrant crisis and a cast of cronies brought into the admin by the mayor who have also found themselves in similar legal troubles.
News of the investigation burst onto the scene in November 2023 when Adams’ top fundraiser, Brianna Suggs, was raided by the feds forcing the mayor to abruptly return from Washington DC just moments after landing.
Agents also raided Brooklyn-based KSK Construction and the homes of Rana Abbsova, a longtime Adams staffer, and Cenk Öcal, a former Turkish Airline executive and member of the mayoral transition team.
Days later, the feds stopped Adams on the street and ordered him to hand over all his electronic devices, including a phone that he “forgot” the password for and feds have been unable to access.
On Sept. 26, then-US Attorney Damian Williams’ Southern District of New York office unveiled the historic 57-page indictment against the mayor.
For months, the mayor’s high-profile attorney Spiro has tried to convince the Biden DOJ and the judge hearing the case to dismiss the case to no avail.
Adams’ defense team long expected a Trump administration to be more amenable to their case, either through a presidential pardon or a dismissal motion from the highest levels of the DOJ — despite the case starting under Trump’s first term in 2021.
Judge Dale Ho, who has heard the case in Manhattan federal court, will still have to sign off on the dismissal, however, that appears to just be a formality with prosecutors saying they have no intention of continuing the case.
