• Three federal prosecutors resigned from the Southern District of New York.
• They refused to admit wrongdoing regarding the Eric Adams corruption case.
• The resignations follow the Justice Department's directive to drop the charges against Adams.

Three Manhattan federal prosecutors, Celia Cohen, Andrew Rohrbach, and Derek Wikstrom, resigned rather than acknowledge wrongdoing in the now-dropped corruption case against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. In their resignation letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, they stated, “We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none,” emphasizing a commitment to ethical legal standards despite political pressures, according to The New York Times and ABC News.

The three prosecutors were placed on administrative leave amidst an investigation ordered by the Justice Department, which aimed to review how the Adams case was handled. They revealed that a "precondition" for returning to work was to express regret over their refusal to drop the case, which they deemed unacceptable. This acknowledgment of wrongdoing was perceived as a violation of their legal and ethical obligations, according to The Hill and Los Angeles Times.

The resignations come in the wake of a broader scandal regarding the Adams case, in which allegations of bribery and illegal campaign contributions were dropped by the Justice Department, raising concerns about ethical practices within governmental legal proceedings. Adams, who denied all allegations, faced accusations of accepting improper benefits, particularly tied to his stance on immigration policies under the Trump administration. Following the dismissal of the case on April 2, federal judges noted that the prosecutors had adhered to all operational guidelines without showing improper motives, as stated by CBS News and referenced in the legal ruling by Judge Dale E. Ho.

These latest resignations add to a growing list of officials in the Southern District of New York who have stepped down in protest against the handling of the Adams case, reflecting deep divisions within the Department of Justice. The previous U.S. attorney for the Southern District, Danielle Sassoon, had also resigned after expressing her concerns regarding the integrity of the decisions taken concerning the case, indicating a significant crisis within the office, according to ABC News and The Hill.