Lawyer Appointed in Adams Case Says Charges Should Be Dropped

A lawyer who was asked to offer independent arguments on the U.S. Justice Department’s motion to dismiss corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams of New York told a judge on Friday that he should end the prosecution.

But the lawyer, Paul D. Clement, said the judge should not allow the Trump administration to hold the threat of criminal charges over Mr. Adams’s head. He recommended that the case be dismissed with prejudice, meaning the charges could not be brought again.

“A dismissal without prejudice creates a palpable sense that the prosecution outlined in the indictment and approved by a grand jury could be renewed, a prospect that hangs like the proverbial sword of Damocles over the accused,” Mr. Clement wrote in his filing.

Mr. Clement’s brief could spell the end of the long-running case against the mayor, the first to be indicted in modern New York history. Though the judge, Dale E. Ho, is not legally bound to accept Mr. Clement’s recommendation, his guidance is likely to be influential given that the judge requested his input.

If Judge Ho follows it, the result could be the best possible outcome for Mr. Adams, whose administration has been in turmoil since his indictment in September. But the legal wrangling over the government’s effort to abandon the case has left the mayor, who is facing re-election this year, even more politically damaged than he was before the process began.