Danielle Sassoon Bio
Danielle Sassoon is a former United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York who resigned after she was asked to drop her prosecution case against Mayor Eric Adams case by acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove.
She has served in the SDNY since 2016 starting as an assistant united states Attorney where she was tasked with trying murder and racketeering cases. She also served on the securities and commodities fraud task force and as co-chief of criminal appeals. In January 2025, was appointed by President Donald Trump as the acting US Attorney for the Southern District of New York
She is a member of Federalist Society who clerked for Ronald Reagan appointees Judge Harvie Wilkinson III on the Fourth Circuit and Justice Antonin Scalia on the U.S. Supreme Court.
She was awarded the FBI Director’s Award for Outstanding Criminal Investigation in 2024 and the Women in Federal Law Enforcement Top Prosecutor Award in 2023.
Danielle Sassoon Age and Education
Sassoon is 39 years old; she was born in 1986. She graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College with a degree in History and Literature in 2008 and got her J.D. in 2011 from Yale Law School.
Danielle is a Daughter of a Lawyer and Psychologist
Danielle is the daughter of Evelyn Sassoon and Salomon Sassoon. Her mother Evelyn is a clinical and research psychologist. She is also an eating disorders specialist. She is Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University, and Assistant Attending Psychologist at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. She graduated from Harvard College and received her doctorate in psychology from the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology of Yeshiva University.
Her father, Salomon Sassoon is a partner at BakerHostetler, focusing his practice on mergers and acquisitions, fund formation, investment transactions, corporate finance and representing operating businesses. He graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania and has a J.D. from University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Danielle Sassoon Husband
Sassoon married her husband Adam Jason Katz in November 2015. The couple met at Harvard, where both graduated magna cum laude.
Adam is the co-founder of Irenic Capital Management, a New York company that invests in public companies and works collaboratively with firm leadership. He previously worked at Elliott Management, a New York investment firm as an investment analayst and later as an associate portfolio manager where he focused on special situations including public equity activism, private equity, and distressed credit.
For his qualifications, he holds an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Baker Scholar, and a JD from Harvard Law School. He graduated from Harvard University in 2007 with an AB in Government Magna Cum Laude with High Honors.
Danielle Sassoon Attorney
Danielle is an attorney who was serving as the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York prior to her resignation on February 13, 2025. She was the chief federal law enforcement officer for the District. Her roles included supervising the investigation and prosecution of all federal crimes and the litigation of all civil matters in which the United States has an interest.
Danielle has Prosecuted several high Profile Cases
In 2023, she prosecuted Sam Bankman-Fried for fraud in his cryptocurrency business. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison after he was found guilty of stealing more than $8 billion from customers of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. He was also ordered to pay back more than $11 billion to FTX’s users, investors and lenders.
She also prosecuted Lawrence V. Ray who was convicted in 2022 of extortion and sex trafficking related to his abuse of students in his daughter’s dormitory at Sarah Lawrence College. He was the he leader of the Sarah Lawrence “sex cult”. He was sentenced to 60 years in prison.
Danielle Sassoon Letter
On February 13, 2025, Sassoon wrote a letter to the attorney general offering her resignation following acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, directing me to dismiss the indictment against Mayor Eric Adams without prejudice. In her letter, she said “the reasons advanced by Mr.Bove for dismissing the indictment are not ones I can in good faith defend as in the public interestand as consistent with the principles of impartiality and fairness that guide my decision-making.”
Her resignation came after acting Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove instructed her via a memo to dismiss the charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams “as soon as is practicable”.
The memo cites two reasons for the order:that the case has been tainted by publicity and that it is impeding with Adams’ ability to do his job as mayor, including cooperating with President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Adam was indicted in September on on charges of related to bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy and soliciting campaign contributions from foreign nationals in exchange for political favors. The illegal actions go back to 2014 when he was Brooklyn Borough president. Adam has however denied the allegations claiming the prosecution was politically motivated by his criticism of the Biden administration’s response to an influx of migrant arrivals in the city beginning in the spring of 2022.