Department of Justice (DOJ) leadership “has put all Public Integrity Section lawyers into a room with one hour to decide who will dismiss” the indictment against New York City Mayor Eric Adams “or else all will be fired,” NBC legal analyst Barb McQuade reported Friday.
The move comes after Danielle Sassoon — who was named acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York last month — on Thursday resigned from her position after refusing an order from acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to dismiss the Adams indictment.
As Reuters reports, five senior Justice Department officials followed suit, resigning "rather than comply with an order to dismiss corruption charges" against Adams.
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According to the DOJ website, the Public Integrity Section (PIN) “oversees the investigation and prosecution of all federal crimes affecting government integrity, including bribery of public officials, election crimes, and other related offenses.”
In her post detailing the hour deadline, McQuade, a former US attorney, sent the PIN lawyers “strength to stand by their oath, which is to support the Constitution, not the president’s political agenda.”
Read more about Sassoon's resignation here.