Three federal prosecutors who worked on New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ corruption investigation chose to resign, while on administrative leave, rather than agreeing to any wrongdoing from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) as a precondition for their return, ABC News reports.
In a stern letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the prosecution trio, comprising of Celia V. Cohen, Andrew Rohrbach, and Derek Wikstrom, accused him of pressuring them to falsely express regret and admit some wrongdoing.
“The Department placed each of us on administrative leave ostensibly to review our, and the Southern District of New York U.S. Attorney’s Office’s handling of the Adams case,” the letter read. “It is now clear that one of the preconditions you have placed on our returning to the Office is that we must express regret and admit some wrongdoing by the Office in connection with the refusal to move to dismiss the case. We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none.”
The same lawyers were part of a DOJ group that refused to sign off on Adams’ bribery case dismissal in February 2025. They were placed on leave shortly after for an investigation.
“We have served under Presidents of both parties, advancing their priorities while pursuing justice without fear or favor,” the prosecutors wrote. “The role of a career prosecutor is not to set policy. But a prosecutor must abide by the oath to uphold the Constitution and laws of the United States and the rules of professional ethics set by the bar and the courts. Now, the Department has decided that obedience supersedes all else, requiring us to abdicate our legal and ethical obligations in favor of directions from Washington. That is wrong.”
The shakeup adds to a growing list of a chaotic battle between the Southern District of New York and the nation’s capital.
Then-acting U.S. attorney Danielle Sassoon resigned in February 2025 after suggesting DOJ leadership, including acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, was aware of a quid pro quo deal with Justice Department officials to have Adams’ case dismissed in exchange for helping the administration
Jay Clayton, a former Securities and Exchange Commission chair, took over the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York as its interim leader.
President Donald Trump installed the lawyer following Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s (D-NY) announcement that he would block the process through which Clayton could be confirmed.
In early April 2025, a federal judge agreed with the DOJ’s motion to dismiss the mayor’s indictment but declined to accept the request to dismiss the case altogether, instead allowing prosecutors to revive it at a later date. The judge said the decision would “create the unavoidable perception” that Adams was beholden to the federal government.
In addition to Sasson, Cohen, Rohrbach, and Wikstrom’s resignation, five other DOJ officials resigned from their offices in protest, and several top Department of Justice officials refused to participate in the case’s dismissal.
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