美国司法部代理副部长艾米尔·博韦星期三出庭时否认撤销对纽约市长埃里克·亚当斯的贿赂案是“交换条件”安排的一部分。
Bove和Adams都出现在纽约市法院，与联邦法官举行会议，联邦法官必须批准司法部驳回Adams刑事案件的动议。
地区法官Dale Ho在听证会期间没有立即就是否批准驳回动议做出决定。
“我不会在板凳上随便投篮，”何说。
在法官面前，Bove称他放弃对亚当斯的指控的决定是“直接行使起诉裁量权”，在这种情况下，因为起诉书意味着亚当斯市长不能与负责移民执法的联邦当局沟通。
Bove表示，该案件应被驳回，因为“继续起诉是在干扰国家安全和移民执法。市长不能与负责移民执法的联邦机构沟通，比如美国检察官办公室。
“没有交换条件，”Bove说，并补充说，即使有，也不是法官拒绝撤销案件的理由。
“质疑我在那项动议中所说的事情是没有法律依据的，”Bove说。
何说，他传唤亚当斯和波维到庭，“因为我有几个问题”，进一步指出，政府的动议驳回市长的腐败案件，使各方在“有点不寻常的情况下”走到一起。
法官承认，他很清楚自己“在这里没有多少自由裁量权”，但表示“法院的作用确实有限。”
有一次，何鸿燊问及罢免动议可能对其他公职人员产生的影响。例如，它是否适用于警察局长?
“是的，”波维回答。
“边境州的州长呢?”何问道。
“是的，绝对是，”波维回答说。
亚当斯确认，他同意在没有偏见的情况下驳回起诉的动议，这意味着该案件可以在未来重新构建。
“是的，我明白，法官。我没有犯罪，”亚当斯说。
在听证会结束时，何鸿燊深深叹了口气，再次承认他在考虑政府驳回动议方面的“有限”作用。
Bove说，政府和市长之间的协议并不能阻止美国联邦调查局采取额外措施调查Adams。然而，Bove说，“我没有任何计划”在未来带回案件。
来自Ho的书面意见即将出台，但不知道什么时候。
前情提要不服罪一份五项罪名的起诉书指控他接受多年的豪华旅行礼物，作为交换，除其他外，据称他说服纽约市消防局批准在曼哈顿开设新的土耳其领事馆，尽管检查员一直担心安全问题。
在司法部于2月10日决定撤销对亚当斯、美国联邦检察官丹妮尔·沙宣和其他六名联邦检察官的起诉后辞职以示抗议.
周一，亚当斯政府的四名副市长也辞职了.
Emil Bove denies 'quid pro quo' in dropping Eric Adams charges during court hearing
In a court appearance Wednesday, acting U.S. Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove denied that dropping the bribery case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams was part of a "quid pro quo" arrangement.
Both Bove and Adams appeared in court in New York City for a conference with the federal judge who must approve the Department of Justice's motion to dismiss Adams' criminal case.
District Judge Dale Ho did not immediately make a decision during the hearing regarding whether to grant the motion to dismiss.
“I’m not going to shoot from the hip from the bench," Ho said.
Speaking before the judge, Bove cast his decision to drop the charges against Adams as a "straightforward exercise of prosecutorial discretion" that was made, in this case, because the indictment has meant Mayor Adams cannot communicate with federal authorities responsible for immigration enforcement.
Bove said the case should be dismissed because "the continuation of this prosecution is interfering with national security and immigration enforcement. The mayor cannot communicate with federal authorities responsible for immigration enforcement, such as the U.S. Attorney's office."
"There is no quid pro quo," Bove said, adding that even if there were, it would not be grounds for the judge to deny the motion to dismiss the case.
"There’s no legal basis to question the things I said in that motion," Bove said.
Ho said he summoned Adams and Bove to court "because I have a few questions," further noting that the government’s motion to dismiss the mayor’s corruption case brought the parties together in a "somewhat unusual situation."
The judge conceded that he is well aware he has "very little discretion here," but said "the court does have a limited role to play."
At one point, Ho asked about the implications the motion to dismiss might have on other public officials. Would it apply, for example, to a police commissioner?
"Yes," Bove answered.
"What about the governor of a border state?" Ho asked.
"Yes, absolutely," Bove responded.
Adams affirmed that he is consenting to the motion to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, meaning the case could be reconstituted in the future.
"Yes I understand, judge. I haven’t committed a crime," Adams said.
At the conclusion of the hearing, Ho let out a deep sigh as he again acknowledged his "limited" role in contemplating a government's motion to dismiss.
Bove said the agreement between the government and the mayor does not stop the FBI from taking additional steps to investigate Adams. However, Bove said, "I don’t have any plans" to bring back the case in the future.
A written opinion from Ho will be forthcoming, though it's unknown when.
Adams previouslypleaded not guiltyto a five-count indictment that accused him of accepting years of luxury travel gifts in exchange for, among other things, allegedly persuading the New York City Fire Department to approve the opening of the new Turkish consulate in Manhattan despite the lingering safety concerns of inspectors.
After the Justice Department moved on Feb. 10 to drop the case against Adams, U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon and six other federal prosecutorsresigned in protest.
On Monday, four deputy mayors in Adams' administrationalso resigned.
