The nominee for deputy attorney general had testified that he had no direct knowledge of administration officials’ decision to abandon the case against New York’s mayor.
The nominee for deputy attorney general had testified that he had no direct knowledge of administration officials’ decision to abandon the case against New York’s mayor.
The nominee for deputy attorney general had testified that he had no direct knowledge of administration officials’ decision to abandon the case against New York’s mayor.
During his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing to become the No. 2 official at the Justice Department, Todd Blanche suggested that he had no direct knowledge of the decision to abandon a criminal corruption case against the mayor of New York City.
But in a draft letter unsealed on Tuesday, the interim U.S. attorney in Manhattan wrote that a top department official, Emil Bove III, had suggested otherwise before ordering her to seek the case’s dismissal.
The U.S. attorney, Danielle R. Sassoon, wrote that when she suggested that department officials await Mr. Blanche’s Senate confirmation so he could play a role in the decision, Mr. Bove informed her that Mr. Blanche was on the “same page,” and that there was “no need to wait.” The draft was written by Ms. Sassoon to Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this year, as Ms. Sassoon fought for the case’s survival.
The draft letter was among a cache of communications, including emails and texts, submitted under seal to a judge, Dale E. Ho, by Mr. Bove and Mr. Blanche, after Mr. Blanche’s confirmation. The communications were attached to a motion supporting their argument for dismissal of the corruption indictment against the mayor, Eric Adams. Judge Ho has yet to rule.
The draft sheds additional light on the circumstances surrounding the explosive decision by top officials in the Justice Department to halt the prosecution of Mr. Adams. The move set off a political crisis in New York City, where the mayor immediately faced questions about his indebtedness to the president. Mr. Trump’s Justice Department has said it sought the dismissal in part so that Mr. Adams could aid the administration’s deportation agenda in the city.