Court Appointed Lawyer: Adams’ Corruption Case Should be Dismissed Permanently

By: Hadassa Kalatizadeh

On Friday, a legal brief was filed by the outside attorney hired, advising the federal judge to permanently drop the criminal corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams. As reported by Crain’s NY, attorney Paul Clement, the former U.S. Solicitor General, had been appointed two weeks ago by Judge Dale Ho, to argue against the Trump Justice Department’s advice to temporarily dismiss Adams’ charges without prejudice. A temporary dismissal of the case, as requested by the justice department, would have allowed the case to be reinstated at any time.

Clement’s highly-anticipated filing on Friday, included a 33-page brief, in which he wrote that the Constitution’s separation of powers means that a judge cannot force a prosecution to continue if the Justice Department, controlled by the president, wants to drop the case. He writes there is “ample reason” to dismiss the prosecution without allowing the DOJ the possibility to refile them after the 2025 mayoral election. He further wrote that leaving a case temporarily dismissed without prejudice, “creates a palpable sense that the prosecution outlined in the indictment and approved by a grand jury could be renewed, a prospect that hangs like the proverbial Sword of Damocles over the accused”.

That possibility “could create the appearance, if not the reality, that the actions of a public official are being driven by concerns about staying in the good graces of the federal executive,” Clement added. This is indeed the situation in which Mayor Adams’ finds himself presently—with the public perceiving him as indebted to President Donald Trump and supposedly now under pressure to collaborate with the President on immigration policies.

Also, this situation, in which many still assume he may be eventually found guilty, puts a serious damper on his 2025 reelection campaign. Permanently dismissing the case would put a rest to those concerns. “The fact that this case involves a currently serving elected official raises distinct concerns that are eliminated by a dismissal with prejudice but exacerbated by a without-prejudice dismissal,” Clement’s written submission states.

As per Crain’s, the recommendation by Clement is quite favorable for Mayor Adams, whose own attorneys had similarly requested the court to dismiss his case with prejudice. Judge Ho had also asked the other parties in the case, including the DOJ, to submit their own arguments by Friday about why the charges should be dismissed without prejudice. Ho said that “if necessary,” he would hold a hearing on March 14, after receiving arguments from both sides. The judge had added, however, that Mr. Adams would not be obligated to appear in person for future hearings, so as not to detract from his job as New York City mayor. The decision to dismiss the case will ultimately lie with Judge Ho.

After the court brief was submitted Mayor Adams voiced “vindication”. His attorney Alex Spiro said “the first-of-its-kind airline upgrade corruption case is now over.” He later released a lengthier statement, saying “when it takes ‘gymnastics’ — in the words of the prosecutors who brought this meritless case — to find a crime to pin on Mayor Adams, we should all be worried about our rights.” Adding, “We have said all along this was a political hit job masquerading as a prosecution — the prosecutors own words now reveal they thought the decision to prosecute this case likely was politically motivated,” said Spiro.