Danielle Sassoon, the Trump-appointed acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has resigned rather than obey a Justice Department order that she seek dismissal of the corruption indictment of New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Had Sassoon agreed to go along with dismissal of the charges, Adams could have argued he was innocent all along, and Trump would have had some cover for the appearance of political interference in a criminal prosecution. But it was not to be.

Trump said in December that he was considering a pardon for Adams, but no need — the case is now dead, even though, as recently as Jan. 6, prosecutors had indicated that their investigation remained active, writing in court papers that they continued to “uncover additional criminal conduct by Adams.” Adams’s trial had been set for April 21.

Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who carries water for the newly confirmed Attorney General Pam Bondi, was quick to accept Sassoon’s resignation. He sent her a vituperative and self-serving eight-page letter, pious in tone but pernicious in impact, to tell her why. The letter read like a defendant’s brief alleging prosecutorial misconduct.

Sassoon’s ouster was accompanied by resignations of five senior-level Justice Department officials overseeing the Public Integrity Unit, as well as expected resignations by at least two members of Sassoon’s staff who have been on the Adams case. One of them, lead prosecutor Hagan Scotten, quit, writing that only a “fool” or a “coward” would drop the case. Bove had placed the pair on administrative leave in a purge smacking of President Richard Nixon’s infamous

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