Acting Manhattan US attorney resigns amid directive to drop case ...

Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon has resigned after refusing to dismiss the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams at the direction of Justice Department leadership, according to a DOJ letter.

Sassoon provided a two-sentence resignation letter, which did not reference the highly-publicized directive from the Department of Justice to dismiss the current case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a senior official says. But the news of Sassoon's departure comes just three days after the order from Washington.

"Moments ago, I submitted my resignation to the attorney general. As I told her, it has been my greatest honor to represent the United States and to pursue justice as a prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. It has been privilege to be your colleague, and I will be watching with pride as you continue your service to the United States," read an e-mail from Sassoon, according to an official who received the note.

The DOJ order to dismiss the corruption case against the mayor had come from acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, the number-two official at the Justice Department under newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bove's memo said federal prosecutors needed to drop the case in part because it impacted Adams' ability to tackle “illegal immigration and violent crime."

The case, according to the docket, has not been dropped as of Thursday.

In a new memo to Sassoon on Thursday, Bove said his directive to drop the case was based on the authority of Bondi and was made with "well-founded concerns regarding weaponization, election interference, and the impediments that the case has imposed on Mayor Adams’ ability to govern and cooperate with federal law enforcement to keep New York City safe."

He said he accepted Sassoon's resignation.

"Your resignation is accepted. This decision is based on your choice to continue pursuing a politically motivated prosecution despite an express instruction to dismiss the case. You lost sight of the oath that you took when you started at the Department of Justice by suggesting that you retain discretion to interpret the Constitution in a manner inconsistent with the policies of a democratically elected President and a Senate-confirmed Attorney General," Bove said in the memo.

Bove said he would initiate internal department investigations into Sassoon and two Assistant U.S. Attorney's involved in the Adams case, placing the two AUSA's on administrative leave.

When the Southern District of New York refused to drop the case, it was reassigned to the DOJ Public Integrity Section (PIN), two sources told NBC News. The acting head of PIN also refused to the dismiss the case and resigned.

Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has denied any wrongdoing, saying the case was politically motivated.

In his memo earlier in the week, Bove suggested that the case against Adams was political. It “cannot be ignored that Mayor Adams criticized the prior Administration’s immigration policies before the charges were filed,” Bove wrote. 

There is no evidence to suggest that the charges were pursued for that reason.

Bove said the Justice Department will now take over the Adams case from the SDNY.

"I take no pleasure in imposing these measures, initiating investigations, and requiring personnel from the Justice Department to come to your District to do work that your team should have done and was required to do," Bove said.

In a just revealed letter Sassoon sent to Bondi, Sassoon said Adams' attorneys in a meeting with the DOJ in January essentially proposed a "quid pro quo."

“I attended a meeting on January 31, 2025, with Mr. Bove, Adams’ counsel, and members of my office. Adams’s attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. Mr. Bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting’s conclusion,” Sassoon.

Adams' attorney, Alex Spiro, denied Sassoon's recounting of the meeting and her allegation of a "quid pro quo" proposal.

"The idea that there was a quid pro quo is a total lie. We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us," Spiro said in a statement to NBC New York. "I don't know what 'amounted to' means. We were asked if the case had any bearing on national security and immigration enforcement and we truthfully answered it did."

Sassoon started in the office as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in 2016 and most recently was the co-chief of the Criminal Appeals Division before becoming the acting U.S. Attorney. She was perhaps best known for her prosecution of the former FTX founder and CEO Sam Bankman Fried.

It is not known who will immediately take over the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York with Sassoon's departure. President Donald Trump has nominated former Securities and Exchange Commissioner Jay Clayton to head the office but he has not been confirmed by the U.S. Senate yet.

Read the full Feb. 13 memo from Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Danielle Sassoon.