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A federal judge on Friday deferred ruling on the #DOJ’s request to drop the #corruption case against Mayor #EricAdams of #NYC, & appointed an outside lawyer to present #independent arguments on the motion, which was otherwise unopposed.

The lawyer the judge appointed, #PaulClement, is a political #conservative who was the US solicitor general during President George W. Bush’s admin.

The judge, Dale E. Ho of Federal District Court in Manhattan, also called for additional briefs from the parties & said he would hold an oral argument on March 14 if he felt it necessary.

Judge Ho’s decision, explained in a 5-pg ruling, will prolong a tumultuous episode that has led to political & legal upheavals, with federal prosecutors in NY & Washington resigning & several of #EricAdams’s campaign opponents calling for him to step down.

Read Judge Ho’s Order in the #EricAdams #Corruption Case:

https://static01.nyt.com/newsgraphics/documenttools/a6299cfc2221a707/48b99d06-full.pdf

“Normally, courts are aided in their decision-making through our system of adversarial testing," Judge Ho wrote, “which can be particularly helpful in cases presenting unusual fact patterns or in case of great public importance.”

He said that because the #DOJ & the mayor both want the charges dropped, “there has been no adversarial testing of the government’s position.”