Inquiry sought into possible ethics violation by deputy attorney general Emil Bove

A state senator from Manhattan is asking a New York State attorney grievance committee to look into possible ethics violations by the acting U.S. deputy attorney general for his effort to drop the public corruption case against Mayor Eric Adams.

Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal filed a complaint Saturday with the Attorney Grievance Committee of the First Judicial Department, urging it to consider disbarment of Emil Bove, the second-in-command at the U.S. Justice Department, if it finds that he violated the attorney codes of conduct.

“I am asking the Attorney Grievance Committee, the body responsible for considering allegations of attorney misconduct, to review this matter and recommend sanctions against Mr. Bove if they found that he did, in fact, violate the Rules of Professional Conduct by abusing the legal process for political ends,” Hoylman-Sigal, a Democrat and a lawyer himself, said in a prepared statement.

Bove and the Justice Department were not available for comment Sunday.

In mid-February, Bove, who served on Donald Trump’s defense team during his hush-money trial last year, ordered then-Manhattan interim U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon to dismiss the five-count fraud and bribery indictment against Adams so that the mayor could keep down the crime rate in the city and assist with the president’s immigration enforcement crackdown.

Bove said he had not reviewed the merits of the Adams case, but he questioned former U.S. Attorney Damian Williams’ political motivation behind bringing it.

Adams, who is running for reelection as a Democrat, has pleaded not guilty to the charges. A trial had been scheduled for April ahead of the June primary.

Rather than carry out the order, Sassoon, quit her post along with six other Justice Department officials.

Bove took over the Adams case in Washington, D.C., and found another prosecutor to request it be dropped.

On Friday, District Court Judge Dale Ho, who presides over the case, appointed a special adviser to review the effort to dismiss the case.

Hoylman-Sigal said he believes the attorney ethics code has been breached.

“Mr. Bove’s unprecedented directive to dismiss charges against Mayor Adams solely so that the Trump Administration could influence Mayor Adams’ cooperation with their migrant deportation efforts very likely constitutes attorney misconduct,” Hoylman-Sigal wrote in his letter.

If the committee finds fault with Bove’s move, Hoylman-Sigal recommended the committee to “give serious consideration to all available sanctions, up to and including a recommendation that Mr. Bove be stripped of his license to practice law.”

With Grant Parpan