NEW YORK (AP) 鈥 New court documents offer a rare, behind-the-scenes look at how federal prosecutors built and then tried to salvage their criminal case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in the face of unprecedented pressure from President Donald Trump鈥檚 Justice Department.
, and among prosecutors were made public Tuesday as the mayor鈥檚 case teeters toward likely dismissal. The documents include a draft memo by the former interim , who on Feb. 13 rather than carry out a directive from a top Justice Department official to dump the case against Adams.
Sassoon鈥檚 draft memo , stark observations and a heavy dose of frustration that did not make it into the final version that she sent to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi on Feb. 12.
In it, she wrote that Emil Bove, now the Justice Department鈥檚 third-in-command, had designs on dropping corruption charges against Adams even before he summoned Sassoon to Washington for what she said was an alarming and insufficient discussion about the future of the case.
She said he told her of his thinking on Jan. 27, four days before a closed-door meeting with prosecutors, Adams鈥 lawyers and Justice Department officials.
At that meeting, Sassoon and her team got just 40 minutes to detail the investigation鈥檚 chronology, she wrote. She said Bove ordered one of her prosecutors to shred his notes and said he did not give her a chance to address issues critical to the dismissal decision.
Sassoon said Adams鈥 lawyers were then given 40 minutes to discuss 鈥渢he impact of the case on his ability to govern鈥 and assist in Trump鈥檚 immigration crackdown 鈥 an argument that has become central to the Justice Department鈥檚 effort to spare Adams from criminal culpability.
鈥淭hat simply does not suffice,鈥 Sassoon wrote.
Bove formally to drop Adams' case on Feb. 10, saying that it was politically tainted and that it was distracting the mayor, a Democrat, from helping with Trump's policy agenda.
The Justice Department gave Sassoon's draft memo and other documents to a court under seal on March 7 as part of an effort to persuade that legally he has .
Bove and Deputy U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche suggested in a that the documents raised questions about the strength of the case against the mayor and whether Adams was a target of the .
Ho, who has yet to rule on the dismissal request, ordered that the records be made public by Tuesday after several media outlets sought their disclosure.
Sassoon said in her Jan. 27 conversation with Bove that she urged him to hold off on any decision about Adams until Blanche, the No. 2 at the Justice Department, was confirmed by the Senate. Sassoon said Bove told her that Blanche 鈥 his ex-law partner and co-counsel on Trump鈥檚 criminal defense team 鈥 was on the 鈥渟ame page鈥 and there was 鈥渘o need to wait.鈥
Asked about Adams鈥 case at his Feb. 12 confirmation hearing, Blanche denied knowing any more about it than what the news media was reporting. The Justice Department has said that Blanche 鈥渨as not involved in the Department鈥檚 decision-making prior to his confirmation.鈥
Adams pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he accepted over $100,000 in illegal campaign contributions and travel perks from people, including a Turkish official, seeking to buy influence while he was Brooklyn borough president. He faces multiple challengers in June鈥檚 Democratic primary.
Adams and his lawyers have suggested his charges were punishment for criticizing then-President Joe Biden鈥檚 immigration policies. Prosecutors have denied that, noting the investigation began a year before he spoke out.
Among the issues Sassoon said she wanted to address at the Jan. 31 meeting, had she been given the chance, was Bove鈥檚 contention that recent actions by ex-U.S. Attorney Damian Williams had tarnished the very case he鈥檇 brought.
Sassoon said that while she was 鈥減ersonally disappointed鈥 by Williams鈥 actions after stepping down 鈥 including a and a 鈥 they didn鈥檛 warrant dismissing the case.
鈥淭here are myriad ways to address any arising prejudice or weaponization well short of a dismissal 鈥 steps routinely taken in other cases with pretrial publicity 鈥 but I never had a chance to raise them,鈥 Sassoon wrote.
Other documents made public Tuesday included texts about case strategy and edits to a draft of a January . Among them: a prosecutor鈥檚 suggestion to nix mentioning who signed off on Adams鈥 indictment.
Hagan Scotten, who also resigned in protest last month, wrote: 鈥淭here鈥檚 no world in which saying the Biden Justice Dept approved this helps us.鈥
