Three federal prosecutors with the Southern District of New York resigned in protest on Tuesday. Celia Cohen, Andrew Rohrbach, and Derek Wikstrom quit after accusing the Trump administration’s Department of Justice of pressuring them to admit “wrongdoing” in the corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), who pleaded not guilty.
The three prosecutors had been placed on administrative leave after Trump’s DOJ requested the case’s dismissal.
‘Any suggestion to the contrary by anybody, especially former federal prosecutors, is wrong and disingenuous.’
According to an email obtained by the New York Times, the prosecutors claimed that DOJ Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche stated that to be reinstated, they “must express regret and admit some wrongdoing by the office in connection with the refusal to move to dismiss the case.”
They wrote, “We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none.”
The prosecutors claimed that the DOJ under the Trump administration “has decided that obedience supersedes all else, requiring us to abdicate our legal and ethical obligations in favor of directions from Washington.”
“There is no greater privilege than to work for an institution whose mandate is to do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons,” the prosecutors continued. “We will not abandon this principle to keep our jobs.”
“We resign,” they declared.
Jay Clayton, President Donald Trump’s pick to lead the SDNY, took over the same day the prosecutors resigned.
Since Trump’s DOJ pushed for the dismissal of the case against Adams in February, five SDNY prosecutors have resigned, including the lead prosecutor assigned to the case.
U.S. District Judge Dale Ho dropped the case with prejudice on April 2.
“To be clear, the Court again emphasizes that it does not express any opinion as to the merits of the case or whether the prosecution of Mayor Adams ‘should’ move forward,” he wrote.
“The Court notes only that it has no authority to require that it continue,” Ho continued. “Ultimately, because the decision to discontinue a prosecution belongs primarily to a political branch of government, it is the public’s judgment, and not this Court’s, that truly matters.”
However, he claimed the DOJ’s request to dismiss the case “smacks of a bargain” between Adams and the Trump administration. Both parties have denied the allegations.
Blanche stated that there “was nothing ‘illegal’ or ‘unethical'” about the DOJ’s decision to drop the “flawed” case.
“Any suggestion to the contrary by anybody, especially former federal prosecutors, is wrong and disingenuous,” he contended.
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News, Eric adams, New york, New york city, Southern district of new york, Sdny, Todd blanche, Trump administration, Trump admin, Lawfare, Department of justice, Doj, Politics
