One of two assistant U.S. attorneys who was working on the Eric Adams corruption case has resigned from his position in a tersely-worded letter to the Department of Justice, according to an email, which was shared with NBC New York.
Hagan Scotten, an assistant U.S. attorney with the Southern District of New York, resigned Friday morning in a note to Deputy Acting Attorney General Emil Bove. Scotten’s decision to resign comes a day after Acting U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon, Scotten’s boss, also left her post following orders by Bove to dismiss the case against the New York mayor.
In Scotten’s email, he said he was never asked by Sassoon to dismiss the Adams case “and I therefore never had an opportunity to refuse. But I am entirely in agreement her decision not to do so…”
Bove, in a letter to Sassoon on Thursday, said he was placing Scotten and another AUSA on leave.
“You indicated that the prosecution team is aware of your communications with the Justice Department, is supportive of your approach, and is unwilling to comply with the order to dismiss the case. Accordingly, the AUSAs principally responsible for this case are being placed on off-duty, administrative leave pending investigations by the Office of the Attorney General and the Office of Professional Responsibility, both of which will also evaluate your conduct,” Bove had said.
The DOJ order to dismiss the corruption case against the mayor had come from Bove, the current number-two official at the Justice Department under newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi. Bove’s memo said federal prosecutors needed to drop the case, in part, because it impacted Adams’ ability to tackle “illegal immigration and violent crime.”
The case, according to the docket, had not been dropped as of Thursday.
In a separate letter Sassoon sent to Bondi, Sassoon said Adams’ attorneys in a meeting with the DOJ in January essentially proposed a “quid pro quo.”
“I attended a meeting on January 31, 2025, with Mr. Bove, Adams’ counsel, and members of my office. Adams’s attorneys repeatedly urged what amounted to a quid pro quo, indicating that Adams would be in a position to assist with Department’s enforcement priorities only if the indictment were dismissed. Mr. Bove admonished a member of my team who took notes during that meeting and directed the collection of those notes at the meeting’s conclusion,” Sassoon.
Adams’ attorney, Alex Spiro, denied Sassoon’s recounting of the meeting and her allegation of a “quid pro quo” proposal.
“The idea that there was a quid pro quo is a total lie. We offered nothing and the department asked nothing of us,” Spiro said in a statement to NBC New York. “I don’t know what ‘amounted to’ means. We were asked if the case had any bearing on national security and immigration enforcement and we truthfully answered it did.”
In Scotten’s resignation letter, he said he understands how the administration could see the “contemplated dismissal-with-leverage as a good, if distasteful, deal.”
“Any assistant U.S. attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected official, in this way. If no lawyer within earshot of the President is willing to give him that advice, then I expect you will eventually find someone who is enough of a fool, or enough of a coward, to file you motion. But is was never going to me,” Scotten wrote.
When the Southern District of New York refused to drop the case, it was reassigned to the DOJ Public Integrity Section (PIN), two sources told NBC News. John Keller, the acting head of PIN, refused to drop the case and resigned, along with two other members of the section, according to sources. Kevin Driscoll, the acting head of the Criminal Division, which oversees federal criminal cases nationwide, also refused to drop the charges before resigning, sources said.
In all, five other high-ranking Justice Department officials resigned Thursday in addition to Sassoon, a stunning escalation in a dayslong standoff over accusations the Trump administration is prioritizing political aims over criminal culpability.
Adams has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has denied any wrongdoing, saying the case was politically motivated.
Bove said the Justice Department will now take over the Adams case from the SDNY.
“I take no pleasure in imposing these measures, initiating investigations, and requiring personnel from the Justice Department to come to your District to do work that your team should have done and was required to do,” Bove said.
Asked by reporters Thursday whether he asked that the charges be dismissed, President Donald Trump said, “No, I didn’t. I know nothing about it.”
