US prosecutor in New York resigns after Donald Trump’s order to drop mayoral case

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The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, one of the most powerful figures in US law enforcement, has quit following an order from Donald Trump’s administration to drop the corruption prosecution of New York City mayor Eric Adams.

Danielle Sassoon, a veteran prosecutor who took over as US attorney for the Southern District of New York in December in an acting capacity, has resigned, said a person familiar with the matter.

Trump’s new leadership at the Department of Justice had directed the Manhattan office to halt the prosecution of Adams, who was charged last year with accepting illegal foreign campaign contributions and doing official favours on behalf of Turkey’s government.

The justice department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ordering the Manhattan outpost to drop the case amounted to taking away one of the most high-profile prosecutions from an office known for its independence, which handles some of the most complex terrorism, financial crime and public corruption cases in the nation.

Sassoon rose through the ranks over nine years in the Manhattan US attorney’s office, part of a team that secured the conviction and 25-year prison sentence of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on charges of stealing billions in assets from clients of the cryptocurrency exchange.

“By resigning, Danielle was effectively declining to follow the order,” said Joshua Naftalis, a former securities fraud prosecutor in the Manhattan US attorney’s office. “And she was sending a message that she was defending the independence of the Southern District of New York from main justice.”

A lawyer for Adams did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The mayor previously said, “I follow campaign rules and I follow the law.”

Jay Clayton, who led the US Securities and Exchange Commission during the first Trump administration, has been nominated to lead the Manhattan prosecutor’s office but has not been confirmed by the US Senate.