A top Department of Justice official said any alleged quid pro quo with New York City Mayor Eric Adams would be OK, as lawyers were dragged to court over the move to dismiss his bribery charges.
Prosecutors and Adams’ defense team were in court Wednesday to argue about dropping the charges. Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove called to dismiss the case on Friday.
Federal prosecutors sought to drop the charges under the direction of President Donald Trump. Controversy swirled over the decision with several lawyers for the Department of Justice quitting instead of signing documents to drop the charges.
While the judge quizzed prosecutors about the decision, he made no decision on whether to approve their request to drop the case.
Bove argued that Judge Dale Ho must drop the case if both Adams and the Justice Department say there was no quid pro quo.
“You have a record undisputed that there is no quid pro quo,” Bove said in court. “That’s just partisan noise.”
