Sassoon, a Republican and interim U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, stated in her resignation letter that leveraging Adams to support the administration’s sweeping immigration policies constituted a “quid pro quo,” which she said is something she could not do in “good faith.” The political exchange is one of two reasons mentioned in acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove’s memorandum to dismiss the case.

“I remain baffled by the rushed and superficial process by which this decision was reached, in seeming collaboration with Adams’s counsel and without my direct input on the ultimate stated rationales for dismissal,” Sassoon wrote in the eight-page document.

Adams’ prosecution was the first in the city’s modern history

Sassoon stated that she was “confident” Adams, a Democrat, had committed the crimes outlined in his indictment. Before reaching this point, Sassoon said prosecutors had planned to charge Adams with destroying evidence as well as advising others to destroy evidence and provide false information to the FBI, according to the letter and The Associated Press.

In her role, Sassoon oversaw all federal crime investigations in the Southern District of New York. In 2024, she filed charges against Adams, marking the first such prosecution of a sitting New York City mayor in modern history. While Adams pleaded not guilty, CNN reported that the trial was scheduled for the spring.

Here is everything we know about Sassoon, including her educational background and extensive experience as a federal attorney.

Sassoon launched her career in litigation before advancing to roles in the judiciary

After graduating from Harvard College and Yale Law School, Sassoon clerked for federal appellate Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson III and Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, per CNN.

Sassoon worked as a litigation lawyer at a Washington firm and taught a seminar on the Supreme Court at New York University Law School, according to the conservative legal group The Federalist Society, to which she is a contributor.

In 2016, Sassoon joined the Southern District of New York as an assistant U.S. attorney, focusing on violent and organized crime. According to her Justice Department bio, she later served on the securities fraud task force and as co-chief of criminal appeals.

Sassoon had only been a U.S. attorney for three weeks

In recent years, she was involved in several high-profile cases alongside the Adams investigation.

In 2022, Sassoon prosecuted Lawrence Ray, who lived in his daughter’s dorm room at Sarah Lawrence College. He was convicted of sex trafficking, forced labor, tax evasion and money laundering. Ray was sentenced to 60 years in prison, per CNN.

Sassoon also played a key role in the 2023 trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the crypto exchange FTX. She led the government’s cross-examination during the trial, which resulted in Bankman-Fried being found guilty and sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to CNN.