Justice Department official who resigned in Adams case joins law firm

By Sara Merken

May 20 (Reuters) - John Keller, a former senior U.S. Justice Department lawyer who resigned in February amid a clash over the prosecution of New York City's mayor, has joined law firm Walden Macht Haran & Williams, the firm said on Tuesday.

Keller was the acting head of the DOJ's public corruption unit before he and other officials resigned rather than comply with an order to dismiss corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams.

Keller, who was a federal prosecutor for 15 years, is launching New York-based Walden Macht Haran & Williams' expansion into Washington, D.C., the firm said.

Jim Walden, a founding partner of the firm, is running for New York City mayor as an independent candidate against Adams, Andrew Cuomo and other candidates.

The Justice Department in February ordered the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan to drop its case against Adams, who pleaded not guilty to charges he accepted bribes from Turkish officials.

Then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove said in a memo that the charges, brought during President Joe Biden's Democratic administration, could interfere with Adams' re-election campaign and were distracting him from helping Trump crack down on illegal immigration.

Former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon and Keller were among six senior DOJ officials who resigned on Feb. 13 rather than carry out Bove's order, in what was seen as an early sign of resistance to Trump's efforts to overhaul the agency.

A U.S. judge had later dismissed the corruption charges against Adams in April.

The Walden Macht firm said in a statement that Keller had shown "unwavering commitment to the rule of law in a highly charged environment" in the Adams prosecution and other cases.

Keller told Reuters the firm's white-collar defense and plaintiff-side work addressing "constitutional violations and government overreach" resonated with his experience at the DOJ's Public Integrity Section.

Reuters reported in March that the Trump administration was considering cutting most of the lawyers in the section, which prosecutes and consults on politically sensitive cases from public corruption to election crimes.

The unit historically has been staffed by career officials who were "insulated from political influences," Keller said, serving as a source of expertise for U.S. prosecutors.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.