Dem
47
GOP
53
When Danielle Sassoon, the Donald Trump-appointed interim U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of NY, resigned rather than follow an improper and unethical order from acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to drop the case against NY Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for Adams' assistance with Trump's immigration roundups, her resignation letter read more like an opposition brief. In it, she laid out the standard that federal judges use to determine whether these requests should be granted.
While most such requests are routine (and routinely granted), the judge's approval is required to prevent the type of abuse of power that Sassoon alleges this request so obviously represents. Sassoon explained that under Rule 48(a) of the Rules of Federal Criminal Procedure, which governs these requests, the Court can deny the motion—even if the defendant consents—"if the motion is prompted by considerations clearly contrary to the public interest." She argues that this is such a request and is not "consistent with the principles of impartiality and fairness that guide my decision-making."
Sassoon then lays out the reasons the request is against the public interest: (1) It's the result of an improper quid pro quo to drop charges in exchange for Adams' assistance with Trump's immigration roundup; (2) The DoJ's request is without prejudice in order to have leverage against Adams to ensure he keeps his end of the bargain; (3) The indictment was properly brought and her office was getting ready to add more charges for obstruction of justice and destruction of evidence; and (4) Bove has not questioned the strength of the case or the evidence supporting it. Sassoon also notes that even though she was the lead attorney on the case, she was not included in any discussions about the decision and her objections have been ignored.
Add to that Bove's very real threat of legal action against Sassoon and the other prosecutors in her office for voicing their objections and resigning, and it's hard to imagine any judge granting the dismissal. Ho held an initial hearing on Wednesday and the prosecutors repeated the admission that they wanted to drop the case so Adams could better help with Trump's immigration crackdown. Bove appeared solo, and no one presented any arguments in opposition to the request. On Friday, Judge Dale Ho issued an order appointing former Solicitor General Paul Clement as an amicus curiae, or friend of the Court, to argue the opposing view. In his order, Ho noted that "courts are normally aided in their decision-making through our system of adversarial testing" especially in situations with, as he delicately put it, "unusual fact patterns."
Clement was the solicitor general under George W. Bush and has argued countless cases before the Supreme Court. It's not unusual for a Court in high profile cases to solicit opinions from outside the parties and even to appoint their own amicus. Judge Emmet Sullivan, for example, appointed an amicus when the DoJ requested to drop the charges against Michael Flynn during Trump's first term. Ho has given the parties the issues he wants briefing on: (1) whether he can consider documents other than the motion to dismiss; (2) how much discretion he has and how in depth can his inquiries be in considering the request; and (3) whether he can dismiss the case with prejudice. (L)