Prosecutors Refuse to Admit Guilt, Resign in Protest
WASHINGTON, April 22 (Reuters) — Three federal prosecutors who led the criminal corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigned on Tuesday. Their decision comes in protest after the U.S. Department of Justice allegedly pressured them to express regret and admit wrongdoing for refusing to drop the charges.
In a letter addressed to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, the prosecutors—Celia V. Cohen, Andrew Rohrbach, and Derek Wikstrom—stood by their actions.
“It is now clear that one of the preconditions you have placed on our returning to the office is that we must express regret and admit some wrongdoing,” they wrote. “We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none.”
DOJ Pressured Prosecutors to Dismiss Charges
The Justice Department had previously placed all three prosecutors on administrative leave after they declined orders to dismiss the case against Mayor Adams. According to their letter, Blanche’s office made their return to work conditional on issuing an apology and admitting fault—conditions they firmly rejected.
Total Resignations Rise to Eleven
With these latest resignations, a total of 11 Justice Department attorneys based in New York and Washington have now resigned in protest over similar pressure to abandon the case.
Justice Department Remains Silent
Nicholas Biase, spokesperson for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office, declined to comment on the resignations or the allegations made by the former prosecutors.
