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U.S. Department of Justice
Office of the Deputy Attorney General
Washington, DC 20530
February 10, 2025
| MEMORANDUM FOR | ACTING UNITED STATES ATTORNEY, UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE FOR THE SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK |
| FROM: | THE ACTING DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL GB3 2/10/25 |
| SUBJECT: | Dismissal Without Prejudice of Prosecution of Mayor Eric Adams |
You are directed, as authorized by the Attorney General, to dismiss the pending charges in United States v. Adams, No. 24 Cr. 556 (SDNY) as soon as is practicable, subject to the following conditions: (1) the defendant must agree in writing to dismissal without prejudice; (2) the defendant must agree in writing that he is not a prevailing party under the Hyde Amendment, Pub. L. 105-119 (Nov. 26, 1997); and (3) the matter shall be reviewed by the confirmed U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York, following the November 2025 mayoral election, based on consideration of all relevant factors (including those set forth below). There shall be no further targeting of Mayor Adams or additional investigative steps prior to that review, and you are further directed to take all steps within your power to cause Mayor Adams' security clearances to be restored.
The Justice Department has reached this conclusion without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based, which are issues on which we defer to the U.S. Attorney's Office at this time. Moreover, as I said during our recent meetings, this directive in no way calls into question the integrity and efforts of the line prosecutors responsible for the case, or your efforts in leading those prosecutors in connection with a matter you inherited. However, the Justice Department has determined that dismissal subject to the above described conditions is necessary for two independent reasons.
First, the timing of the charges and more recent public actions by the former U.S. Attorney responsible for initiating the case have threatened the integrity of the proceedings, including by increasing prejudicial pretrial publicity that risks impacting potential witnesses and the jury pool. It cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior Administration's immigration policies before the charges were filed, and the former U.S. Attorney's public actions created appearances of impropriety that implicate the concerns raised in the Attorney General's February 5, 2025 memorandum regarding Restoring The Integrity and Credibility of the Department of Justice, as well as in Executive Order 14147, entitled Ending The Weaponization
