XPost: alt.law-enforcement.corruption, ny.politics, alt.politics.trump   
   XPost: talk.politics.guns, sac.politics   
   From: abank@yahoo.com   
      
   That how you get rid of the snakes.  Put them in the position to do as   
   they're told so they either quit or be fired.   
      
   The top federal prosecutor in New York and two senior federal prosecutors   
   in Washington have resigned after they refused to follow a Justice   
   Department order to drop the corruption charges against New York Mayor   
   Eric Adams, multiple officials said Thursday.   
      
   The resignations amount to a stunning public rebuke of the Trump   
   administration's new Justice Department leadership in one of the country's   
   highest-profile criminal cases.   
      
   The prosecutors resigned after Emil Bove, the acting U.S. deputy attorney   
   general, issued a memo Monday ordering federal prosecutors in New York to   
   drop the case against Adams, arguing, in part, that it hampered his   
   ability to tackle “illegal immigration and violent crime.”   
      
   Danielle R. Sassoon, the acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District of   
   New York, announced her resignation in a brief statement to colleagues   
   Thursday, the senior official said.   
      
   Sassoon appealed Wednesday to Attorney General Pam Bondi and expressed her   
   alarm at being ordered to drop the case, according to a letter obtained by   
   NBC News. She wrote to Bondi that she attended a meeting on Jan. 31 with   
   Bove, Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, and members of her 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," Sassoon   
   wrote. "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 also said in the letter that her office was preparing to file   
   additional charges against Adams “based on evidence that Adams destroyed   
   and instructed others to destroy evidence and provide false information to   
   the FBI.”   
      
   The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for   
   comment.   
      
   Asked by reporters Thursday whether he asked that the charges be   
   dismissed, Trump said: "No, I didn't. I know nothing about it."   
      
   In a statement, Spiro, Adams' lawyer, said: "The idea that there was a   
   quid pro quo is a total lie. We offered nothing and the department asked   
   nothing of us."   
      
   Behind the scenes, Justice Department officials also tried to move the   
   case to the agency’s Public Integrity Section in Washington, which   
   oversees all federal public corruption cases, multiple sources said.   
      
   But John Keller, the acting head of the Public Integrity Section, refused   
   to drop the case and resigned, two sources said. Three other members of   
   the section also resigned.   
      
   Kevin Driscoll, the acting head of the department's Criminal Division,   
   which oversees federal criminal cases nationwide, also refused to drop the   
   charges and resigned.   
      
   After Sassoon informed Bove of her resignation, he sent her a blistering   
   eight-page letter in which he blasted her refusal to immediately drop the   
   charges. Bove also placed at least two other prosecutors who worked on the   
   case on leave, according to the letter, which was obtained by NBC News.   
      
   "The Justice Department will not tolerate the insubordination and apparent   
   misconduct reflected in the approach that you and your office have taken   
   in this matter," Bove wrote. "Your office’s insubordination is little more   
   than a preference to avoid a duty that you regard as unpleasant and   
   politically inconvenient."   
      
   But legal experts noted that Bove, in a highly unusual move, said in his   
   memo Monday that the Justice Department could renew its investigation of   
   Adams in the future. That step raised concerns that the department could   
   use its threat of prosecution as leverage against Adams to help the Trump   
   administration achieve its goals.   
      
   In an interview with NBC New York after the resignations, Adams praised   
   Bondi. "I believe that the AG has made it clear that she’s going after   
   weaponization of the Justice Department," he said, adding: "As they say,   
   'I’m Eric Adams, and I approve of this message.'"   
      
   Sterling conservative credentials   
   Sassoon, who took over the office last month, is a well-respected   
   prosecutor with conservative credentials. Best known for successfully   
   prosecuting crypto whiz kid-turned-fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, Sassoon   
   was a member of the Federalist Society and had clerked for the late   
   Justice Antonin Scalia, one of the Supreme Court’s most influential   
   conservatives.   
      
   Daniel Richman, a Columbia University law professor and former federal   
   prosecutor, praised Sassoon.   
      
   "That the resignation should be by someone with sterling Federalist   
   Society credentials only highlights the difference between the Trump   
   administration and serious conservatives with integrity and respect for   
   the criminal process," he said.   
      
   A spokesperson for the Southern District of New York, which is sometimes   
   referred to as the “Sovereign District of New York” for its independent   
   streak, said the new acting U.S. attorney is Matthew Podolsky. He has   
   worked in the office since 2015.   
      
   Adams, a former New York police captain elected mayor in 2021, was charged   
   in an indictment unsealed in September with one count of conspiracy to   
   receive campaign contributions from foreign nationals and commit wire   
   fraud and bribery, two counts of soliciting campaign contributions from   
   foreign nationals and one count of soliciting and accepting a bribe.   
      
   The indictment accused him of taking $100,000 worth of free plane tickets   
   and luxury hotel stays from wealthy Turkish nationals and at least one   
   government official in a nearly decadelong corruption scheme.   
      
   Adams has pleaded not guilty. He has insisted that he is innocent and   
   argued that the charges are politically motivated.   
      
   Trump suggested on Dec. 16 that he would consider pardoning Adams, saying   
   that Adams “was treated pretty unfairly” and that he would need to see the   
   case, “because I don’t know the facts.”   
      
   Adams met with Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, days before Trump was   
   inaugurated as president. He said they discussed a number of topics but   
   “did not discuss my legal case.” Adams later attended Trump’s   
   inauguration.   
      
   Late last month, an attorney for Adams contacted Justice Department   
   leadership about dropping the criminal case, NBC News has reported.   
      
   In his memo ordering Sassoon to drop the charges, Bove suggested that the   
   case 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.   
      
   When the indictment was unsealed, James Dennehy, the assistant director in   
   charge of the FBI’s New York field office, called the charges "a stinging   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)