Hagan Scotten told Justice Department officials that he would not be party to a political prosecution. He was the latest in a succession of federal prosecutors to quit.

NEW YORK (AP) — Before resigning, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan told her boss that she was confident that New York City Mayor Eric Adams “has committed the crimes with which he is charged” and that she would refuse the Justice Department’s order to drop the corruption case.

Hagan Scotten, the lead prosecutor in Mayor Eric Adams’s federal corruption case, has quit over the Justice Department’s demand that the case be dismissed, calling any lawyer who would move in court to toss the matter a “fool” or “coward,