By Sarah N. Lynch
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The three remaining federal prosecutors who brought criminal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams resigned in protest on Tuesday, after they said the Justice Department wrongfully pressured them to admit to wrongdoing when they refused to drop the case, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
“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,” the three prosecutors wrote in their letter to Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche. “We will not confess wrongdoing when there was none.”
The three assistant U.S. attorneys – Celia V. Cohen, Andrew Rohrbach and Derek Wikstrom – were all previously placed on administrative leave after they refused orders by Blanche’s office to dismiss the charges against Adams.
With their resignations on Tuesday, there are now 11 Justice Department attorneys based in New York and Washington who have resigned in protest after they were pressured to drop the case.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office, declined to comment.
(Reporting by Sarah N. Lynch; editing by Andy Sullivan; additional reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)
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