Senators to DOJ IG Horowitz: “The American people cannot afford to have the Department of Justice weaponize its vast prosecutorial authority to coerce public officials to assist any president’s political project. The conduct of Attorney General Bondi and Acting Deputy Attorney General Bove in this matter must be investigated.”
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Ranking Member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats in a letter to Department of Justice (DOJ) Inspector General (IG) Michael Horowitz urging him to investigate Attorney General Pam Bondi and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove for seeking to dismiss the prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams for blatantly partisan reasons. They also requested that Mr. Horowitz immediately seek the preservation of documents for this investigation as there are clear indications that Mr. Bove may be destroying evidence.
In a separate letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi and Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, the Senators requested that they preserve all existing and future records and materials related to: actions taken by DOJ to dismiss the prosecution of New York City Mayor Eric Adams; and actions carried out by DOJ officials to identify and remove prosecutors who refused to dismiss the prosecution of Mayor Adams.
“The now former Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Danielle Sassoon, along with at least five other career prosecutors in the Department of Justice Criminal Division, including the chief and deputy chief of the Public Integrity Section, have resigned rather than carry out an order from Mr. Bove that is self-evidently contrary to the public interest and based upon corrupt motives,” the Senators wrote to the DOJ IG.
On February 10, Mr. Bove directed Ms. Sassoon “to dismiss the pending charges in United States v. Adams.” Mr. Bove claimed this directive was “authorized by Attorney General Pam Bondi” and made clear that dismissal of this case had nothing to do with the merits of the prosecution, stating that the decision was made “without assessing the strength of the evidence or the legal theories on which the case is based.” Instead, Mr. Bove shockingly acknowledged the nakedly partisan reason for seeking dismissal of the charges: “[T]he pending prosecution has unduly restricted Mayor Adams’ ability to devote full attention and resources to the illegal immigration and violent crime that escalated under the policies of the prior Administration.”
On February 12, Ms. Sassoon spelled out her concerns with this directive to Attorney General Bondi. Ms. Sassoon also noted that, after a meeting with counsel for Mayor Adams, Mr. Bove, and members of her team, Mr. Bove “admonished a member of my team who took notes and directed the collection of [the prosecutorial team’s] notes at the meeting’s conclusion.”
“Mr. Bove claims the Department is seeking dismissal of Mayor Adams’ indictment because it was an instance of supposed ‘weaponization,’ but he offers no evidence for this charge. In contrast, Ms. Sassoon’s February 12 memo to Attorney General Bondi is an eight page, detailed explanation of the merits of this case that directly refutes Mr. Bove’s allegations of impropriety and discusses additional steps that could be taken to address any such concerns, such as seeking a superseding indictment before a new grand jury,” the Senators wrote.
The Senators’ letter continues, “It is clear that Attorney General Bondi and Mr. Bove’s directive to drop this case was for the express purpose of furthering President Trump’s political agenda. This is made more explicit by the timing of Mayor Adams’s February 13 meeting with Tom Homan, President Trump’s ‘border czar,’ and the subsequent announcement that New York City would assist Immigration and Customs Enforcement in carrying out the President’s immigration agenda… It is not difficult to see how the dismissal of the indictment without prejudice, with the possibility that the Department could again seek to prosecute Mayor Adams, could be used as a cudgel to pressure him into assisting the White House in advancing the President’s agenda. Indeed, Deputy Attorney Bove has been quite explicit about this quid pro quo.”
Their letter to the DOJ IG concludes, “The American people cannot afford to have the Department of Justice weaponize its vast prosecutorial authority to coerce public officials to assist any president’s political project. The conduct of Attorney General Bondi and Acting Deputy Attorney General Bove in this matter must be investigated.”
Along with Durbin, the letters were signed by U.S. Senators Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), Chris Coons (D-DE), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Cory Booker (D-NJ), Alex Padilla (D-CA), Peter Welch (D-VT), and Adam Schiff (D-CA).
Full text of the Senators’ letter to DOJ IG Horowitz is available here.
Full text of the Senators’ letter to AG Bondi and Acting Deputy AG Bove is available here.
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