Who is Danielle Sassoon, the prosecutor who challenged Trump's DOJ in the Eric Adams case?
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Two decades ago, when Danielle Sassoon's college newspaper asked her to describe herself in three words, she chose "independent."
On Thursday, Sassoon proved that independence when she resigned as Manhattan's top federal prosecutor rather than follow an order from President Donald Trump's Justice Department to drop charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat who had cultivated a relationship with the Republican president.
Sassoon, who had clerked for the late conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia and is a member of the right-leaning Federalist Society, sent a strongly worded letter to Attorney General Pam Bondi. In it, she explained that dismissing the charges against Adams would go against her duty to uphold the rule of law.
“As a prosecutor, I understand my duty as enforcing the law impartially, which includes prosecuting a validly returned indictment, regardless of whether its dismissal would be politically beneficial for the defendant or for those who appointed me,” Sassoon wrote in her February 12 letter.
At 38, Sassoon had been appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York on an interim basis shortly after Trump began his second term on January 20. Trump's permanent nominee to lead the office, Jay Clayton, is awaiting U.S. Senate confirmation.
Just three weeks into her tenure, Sassoon found herself in a difficult position after receiving the February 10 directive from Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove to dismiss the corruption case against Adams. Former prosecutors described this as a no-win situation.
Complying with the order would have been seen as surrendering the Southern District’s long-held autonomy from political influence. The district had previously charged individuals connected to Trump during his first term. However, refusing to comply made her position untenable, former prosecutors noted.
Adams, who has pleaded not guilty to charges that he accepted bribes from Turkish officials, claims the charges stem from federal prosecutors under former Democratic President Joe Biden targeting him for his criticism of the administration’s immigration policies.
In instructing Sassoon to drop the case, Bove cited the distraction it caused Adams in assisting Trump with his immigration crackdown. Sassoon fiercely criticized this reasoning in her letter to Bondi.
“It is a breathtaking and dangerous precedent to reward Adams’s opportunistic and shifting commitments on immigration and other policy matters by dismissing a criminal indictment,” Sassoon wrote, adding that she could not be reached for comment.
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