Trump's DOJ is at war with its own prosecutors
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
President Trump, accompanied by newly sworn-in U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi at the White House on Feb. 5 in Washington, DC. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
At least seven federal prosecutors resigned rather than comply with an order to dismiss corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams — an unprecedented exodus that includes veteran lawyers with deep conservative credentials.
Why it matters: This was perhaps the most dramatic battle yet between the Trump loyalists taking the reins across Washington and the career civil servants attempting to hold the line against alleged overreach.
- It ended with Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove pulling the DOJ's remaining public integrity prosecutors into a room and warning them that if one didn't agree to file the motion dismissing the charges within an hour, they could all be fired, Reuters reports.
- One prosecutor finally agreed to do so under duress, per Reuters.
- The DOJ declined to comment Friday.
How it happened: U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned Thursday rather than comply with an order from Bove to drop the corruption charges against Adams.
- Bove, who previously worked on Trump's personal legal team and had already tussled with acting FBI leadership over a potential purge of agents who worked on Trump-related cases, argued that clearing the charges would allow Adams to comply with Trump's immigration policies.
- Sassoon, who clerked for Justice Antonin Scalia and is a member of the conservative Federalist Society, skewered those political motivations in a lengthy resignation letter.
- Bove accepted the resignation, writing: "In no valid sense do you uphold the Constitution by disobeying direct orders implementing the policy of a duly elected President, and anyone romanticizing that behavior does a disservice to the nature of this work and the public's perception of our efforts."
But Sassoon was far from alone.
- John Keller, the acting chief of the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section, and Kevin Driscoll, the acting head of the DOJ's criminal division, also swiftly resigned.
- At least four more resignations have followed, including that of Hagan Scotten, an assistant U.S. attorney with the Southern District of New York.
- "No system of ordered liberty can allow the Government to use the carrot of dismissing charges, or the stick of threatening to bring them again, to induce an elected official to support its policy objectives," Scotten wrote in his own resignation letter.
- He added: "If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool or enough of a coward, to file your motion. But it was never going to be me."
Split screen: Amid the resignation drama, Adams appeared on "Fox & Friends" alongside Trump administration border czar Tom Homan on Friday morning.
- He promised to collaborate with Trump's immigration enforcement policies and skirted a question about the possibility New York Gov. Kathy Hochul will remove him from office.
- Adams was indicted last year on charges of bribery and fraud following a federal investigation into allegations that his campaign had illegally conspired with wealthy foreign businesspeople and Turkish officials to collect donations.
More from Axios:
- Eric Adams joins forces with Trump border czar after DOJ orders case dropped
- 3 federal prosecutors resign after DOJ order to drop NYC mayor's case
- DOJ moves to have NYC Mayor Eric Adams' charges dropped
Editor's note: This story has been updated with the latest.
