Emil Bove Faces DOJ Ethics Complaint Over Mayor Adams Dismissal

A watchdog organization is calling on the Justice Department’s attorney misconduct office to investigate acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove’s “partisan” order to dismiss charges against New York’s mayor.

Bove potentially violated multiple New York attorney ethics rules and DOJ policies by directing prosecutors to partake in “what appears to be a corrupt quid pro quo deal,” the Campaign for Accountability said in a complaint filed Monday with the department’s Office of Professional Responsibility.

The complaint, which echoes similar accusations made by two Democratic senators Feb. 27, puts Bove in a somewhat awkward situation of possibly facing a probe from an office he oversees. He has also asked that office to investigate the Manhattan prosecutors who refused to obey his order to dismiss charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams.

The post-Watergate OPR has sought to operate independently from political leadership in reviewing DOJ attorneys’ behavior. But Bove recently reassigned power to two of his personal aides to make final determinations on employee discipline and ethics—stripping that authority from a senior career official.

OPR doesn’t have disciplinary power, but does make referrals to a different office that can recommend suspensions or removal. And that disciplinary office’s decisions now could be overturned by Bove’s politically-appointed aides, according to a memo obtained by Bloomberg Law.

Bove’s mandate that prosecutors drop Adams’ corruption charges in exchange for the mayor’s cooperation with the Trump administration’s immigration agenda is now under review by a prominent court-appointed attorney, former US Solicitor General Paul Clement.

His actions may have violated New York professional conduct rules barring attorneys from dishonesty, committing threats of prosecution to gain advantage in civil matters, and inducing other lawyers to violate rules, Campaign for Accountability Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith wrote in her letter to OPR counsel Jeffrey Ragsdale.

The nonpartisan Campaign for Accountability works to expose public misconduct through research and litigation.

The complaint also alleges that Bove appears to have violated DOJ’s policy requiring “investigatory and prosecutorial powers be exercised free from partisan consideration.”

OPR “is uniquely positioned to put a stop to this by preventing Mr. Bove from using his high-level DOJ position to continue this conduct or repeat it in future investigations or prosecutions,” the organization wrote.

At a hearing last month, Bove denied the existence of a quid pro quo arrangement with Adams and defended the dismissal by taking aim at the Manhattan federal prosecutors who brought the case last year. He alleged there was at minimum the appearance of impropriety if not an abuse of the justice process.