The former lead prosecutor on Mayor Eric Adams’ federal corruption case admitted in private text messages that it was “plausible” that the former Manhattan US attorney who indicted Hizzoner had a “political motive,” the Justice Department revealed in a bombshell filing Friday.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Principal Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove cited the text messages from “AUSA-1” – Hagan Scotten – in a filing with Manhattan federal court Judge Dale Ho in arguing that the case against Adams should be dismissed, but with the door left open to future prosecution.
“[US Attorney-1] obviously has political ambitions, and I think suggesting we doubt that just costs us credibility,” Scotten allegedly wrote to his team at the Southern District as they prepped a Jan. 22 letter from ex-US Attorney Danielle Sassoon addressing an op-ed written by her predecessor, Damian Williams, about the Adams case.
Scotten, a Republican ex-Army soldier known as one of the office’s rising star conservatives, further wrote that it was “pretty plausible” that Williams “had a political motive in bringing this case,” according to the DOJ.
“AUSA-1 explained that he hoped to ‘distance’ the SDNY prosecution team from US
Attorney-1, ‘enough that [Judge] Ho and [President] Trump will know we don’t approve of what he did, but not so much that we magnify the scandal,’” the filing continued.
Scotten couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on Friday night.
He resigned last month instead of complying with a DOJ order to drop the case against Adams.
“Any assistant US attorney would know that our laws and traditions do not allow using the prosecutorial power to influence other citizens, much less elected officials, in this way,” Scotten wrote in a blistering resignation letter.
“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 your motion,” he fumed.
Scotten’s resignation letter is quoted in the filing.
Commenting on Sassoon’s letter regarding the Williams op-ed, another assistant US attorney — identified as “AUSA-3” – argued in an email, “I think we want to create distance between those prosecutors and the US Attorney.”
Another member of the SDNY prosecution team – “AUSA-4” – added, “I agree that we should create some space from [U.S. Attorney-1], but I also think we should avoid anything that looks like us fighting with [U.S. Attorney-1] (which would be counterproductive).”
Scotten also pushed back on a suggestion from AUSA-4 that in its response to Williams’ op-ed the SDNY should note Adams was “wrong about his claim that our prosecution is motivated by [U.S. Attorney-1’s] political interests.”
“I know that none of us were motivated by [U.S. Attorney-1’s] political aspirations, but I don’t think any of us know for sure what motivated [U.S. Attorney-1],” Scotten wrote.
As US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Williams oversaw high-profile prosecutions of both Democrats and Republicans, including former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ). He also scored the conviction of crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried, who donated tens of millions of dollars to mostly Democrats.
The DOJ filing characterized Scotten as someone who was “as aggressive and careerist” as Williams.
The Trump administration cited a July 18, 2024 message between Scotten and AUSA-2 about “efforts to ‘exclude’ a ‘defense witness’” in the case
“AUSA-1 remarked that an ‘invocation is better’ than ‘[l]etting him come in and refuse cross,’” the filing states.
On Sept. 5, 2024, AUSA-3 texted Scotten: “We did a lot of gymnastics around the influence point” in the Adams indictment, “maybe making him the one exploiting the corrupt relationship works better.”
The DOJ filing comes after former US Solicitor General Paul Clement recommended that Adams’ case be dismissed with prejudice — eliminating any chance of a future prosecution – in order to remove appearances of political “taint” and to swat down the notion that the mayor is beholden to Trump.
Ho tasked Clement with arguing against the DOJ’s stance that the case should be dismissed without prejudice – meaning it could later be revived – since Adams’ defense team effectively took the same position at a recent hearing.
“Proposed amici have seized on false claims by SDNY to suggest that the Motion involves some kind of improper quid pro quo,” the DOJ said, arguing in favor of leaving the case open to future prosecution. “These arguments are frivolous to such an extent that they only serve to reveal the underlying improper political motivations of their proponents.”
Blanche and Bove note that Adams “swore under oath” that he had “no other agreements with the government, unwritten or otherwise, and that nothing else was promised to induce his consent to the Motion.”
Alex Spiro and William Burck, attorneys for Adams, argued that the emails and texts highlighted in the DOJ filing mean it is “Game over” for the case.
“When it takes ‘gymnastics’ — in the words of the prosecutors who brought this meritless case — to find a crime to pin on Mayor Adams, we should all be worried about our rights,” the attorneys said in a statement.
“We have said all along this was a political hit job masquerading as a prosecution – the prosecutors’ own words now reveal they thought the decision to prosecute this case likely was politically motivated,” they added.
“The prosecutors were playing games with people’s lives. Game over.“