Prosecutor from SDNY resigns over Adams case.

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The top federal prosecutor in New York and two senior federal prosecutors in Washington have resigned after refusing to follow a Justice Department order to drop the corruption charges against New York City mayor Eric Adams, multiple officials said Thursday.

The resignations amount to a stunning public rebuke of the new Justice Department leadership of the Trump administration in one of the country's most high-profile criminal cases.

The departures come 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 on Thursday, the senior official said.

The day before, Sassoon appealed to Attorney General Pam Bondi and expressed her alarm at being ordered to drop the case, according to a letter obtained by NBC News. Sassoon wrote to Bondi that she had attended a meeting on Jan. 31, 2025, 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."

The Justice Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Bondi said that the case against Adams should be dropped.

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."

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