Justice Dept. Is Said to Put Two Prosecutors in Adams Case on Leave

Two Manhattan prosecutors who worked on the corruption case against New York City’s mayor, Eric Adams, were put on administrative leave by the Justice Department on Friday, according to four people with knowledge of the matter.

The prosecutors, Celia Cohen and Andrew Rohrbach, had been serving in high-ranking positions in the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, the people said. Ms. Cohen had been chief counsel to the acting U.S. attorney, Matthew Podolsky, while Mr. Rohrbach had worked as a co-chief of the general crimes unit.

Three of the people said the Justice Department in Washington had acted without any warning on Friday. Ms. Cohen and Mr. Rohrbach were given letters signed by Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general, notifying them they had been placed on leave. They were then immediately escorted out of the Lower Manhattan building that houses the U.S. attorney’s office.

A spokesman for the office declined to comment, and a spokesman for the Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment. The actions were first reported by ABC News.

Ms. Cohen served as deputy chief of the White Plains division of the U.S. attorney’s office and worked in the public corruption unit with Mr. Rohrbach and the other prosecutors who had indicted Mr. Adams.

Before that, Ms. Cohen prosecuted members of the Genovese family and the Trinitarios, among other criminal groups. Mr. Rohrbach was involved in cases against Ghislaine Maxwell, an associate of Jeffrey Epstein; the crypto entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried; and the former head of the New York City sergeants’ union, Edward D. Mullins.