Acting Manhattan US attorney resigns amid directive to drop case against NYC mayor

Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon resigned after refusing to dismiss the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams at the direction of Justice Department leadership.

Sassoon provided a two-sentence resignation letter, which did not reference the highly-publicized directive from the Department of Justice to dismiss the current case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a senior official says. But the news of Sassoon's departure comes just three days after the order from Washington.

"Moments ago, I submitted my resignation to the attorney general. As I told her, it has been my greatest honor to represent the United States and to pursue justice as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. It has been privilege to be your colleague, and I will be watching with pride as you continue your service to the United States," read an e-mail from Sassoon, according to an official who received the note.

In a separate letter Sassoon sent to newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi, Sassoon said Adams' attorneys in a meeting with the DOJ in January essentially proposed a "quid pro quo."

“I attended a meeting on January 31, 2025, with Mr. Bove, Adams’ counsel, and members of my office. Adams’s 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. Mr. Bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting’s conclusion,” Sassoon.

Adams' attorney, Alex Spiro, denied Sassoon's recounting of the meeting and her allegation of a "quid pro quo" proposal.

"The idea that there was a quid pro quo is a total lie. We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us," Spiro said in a statement to NBC New York. "I don't know what 'amounted to' means. We were asked if the case had any bearing on national security and immigration enforcement and we truthfully answered it did."

Sassoon also said in the letter that her office was preparing to file additional charges against Adams “based on evidence that Adams destroyed and instructed others to destroy evidence and provide false information to the FBI.”

Spiro addressed that claim as well, saying that if prosecutors had "any proof whatsoever that the mayor destroyed evidence, they would have brought those charges — as they continually threatened to do, but didn’t, over months and months." He called the claim "the parting shot of a prosecution exposed as a sham.”

The DOJ order to dismiss the corruption case against the mayor had come from acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, the number-two official at the Justice Department under newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bove's memo said federal prosecutors needed to drop the case in part because it impacted Adams' ability to tackle “illegal immigration and violent crime."

The case, according to the docket, has not been dropped as of Thursday.

In a new memo to Sassoon on Thursday, Bove said his directive to drop the case was based on the authority of Bondi and was made with "well-founded concerns regarding weaponization, election interference, and the impediments that the case has imposed on Mayor Adams’ ability to govern and cooperate with federal law enforcement to keep New York City safe."

He said he accepted Sassoon's resignation.

"This decision is based on your choice to continue pursuing a politically motivated prosecution despite an express instruction to dismiss the case. You lost sight of the oath that you took when you started at the Department of Justice by suggesting that you retain discretion to interpret the Constitution in a manner inconsistent with the policies of a democratically elected President and a Senate-confirmed Attorney General," Bove said in the memo.

Bove said he would initiate internal department investigations into Sassoon and two Assistant U.S. Attorneys involved in the Adams case, placing the two AUSA's on administrative leave.

When the Southern District of New York refused to drop the case, it was reassigned to the DOJ Public Integrity Section (PIN), two sources told NBC News. John Keller, the acting head of PIN, refused to drop the case and resigned, along with two other members of the section, according to sources. Kevin Driscoll, the acting head of the Criminal Division, which oversees federal criminal cases nationwide, also refused to drop the charges before resigning, sources said.

In all, five other high-ranking Justice Department officials resigned Thursday in addition to Sassoon, a stunning escalation in a dayslong standoff over the Trump administration prioritizing political aims over criminal culpability.

Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has denied any wrongdoing, saying the case was politically motivated.

In his memo earlier in the week, Bove suggested that the case against Adams was political. It “cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior Administration’s immigration policies before the charges were filed,” Bove wrote. 

There is no evidence to suggest that the charges were pursued for that reason.

Bove said the Justice Department will now take over the Adams case from the SDNY.

"I take no pleasure in imposing these measures, initiating investigations, and requiring personnel from the Justice Department to come to your District to do work that your team should have done and was required to do," Bove said.

Read the full Feb. 13 memo from Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Danielle Sassoon.

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Asked by reporters Thursday whether he asked that the charges be dismissed, President Donald Trump said, "No, I didn't. I know nothing about it."

Sassoon started in the office as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2016 and most recently was the co-chief of the Criminal Appeals Division before becoming the acting U.S. Attorney. She was perhaps best known for her prosecution of the former FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman Fried.

A spokesperson said Matthew Podolsky was named the new acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. President Trump has nominated former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Jay Clayton to head the office but he has not been confirmed by the U.S. Senate yet.