Ex-federal attorney bids 'farewell' to DOJ independence citing moves in Adams case

Former federal prosecutor Carol Lam bid “farewell” to the Department of Justice's (DOJ) independence in a Thursday opinion piece for The New York Times.

“Over just a few days last week, the Trump administration made a laughingstock of the U.S. Department of Justice,” Lam said in the piece titled “Farewell, Justice Department Independence.” 

“The department’s decision to seek the dismissal of a corruption indictment against Mayor Eric Adams of New York led seven prosecutors handling the case to resign in disgust,” Lam added.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove recently ordered federal prosecutors to drop a recent corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Multiple prosecutors resigned due to the decision from the Justice Department.

“The acting deputy attorney general, Emil Bove, said the indictment should be dismissed in part because the prosecution would interfere with Mr. Adams’s ability to carry out President Trump’s immigration crackdown,” Lam said. “To ensure Mr. Adams’s obedience, the indictment would be dismissed without prejudice so the department could resurrect it at any time.”

Lam added later that the use of “the prospect of criminal prosecution to obtain Mr. Adams’s future political cooperation makes the mayor beholden to someone other than his constituents, dangerously crossing a line.”

Adams recently said that he met with President Trump’s “border czar” Tom Homan on Thursday to get ready for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to restart operations on Rikers Island, which holds New York City’s largest jail.

“Today, I met with ‘Border Czar’ Tom Homan and local federal law enforcement officials to discuss how we can work together to remove violent migrant gangs from our city,” Adams said in a previous statement.

The Hill has contacted the press offices of Adams, the Justice Department and the White House for comment.