The federal prosecutor’s office in Manhattan unintentionally filed an internal letter that questioned the Trump administration’s approach to reduce New York’s toll on driving in Manhattan, stating that the government should change tactics if it wants to stop the fledgling program.

The memo, intended for a US Department of Transportation attorney, was unintentionally filed Wednesday night in New York’s lawsuit against the administration over its efforts to eliminate the tax.

The gaffe occurred days after the Trump administration issued a third ultimatum to New York to stop collecting the toll, which began in January and charges most drivers $9 to enter the most congested portion of the city.

In the brief, three assistant U.S. attorneys from the Southern District of New York noted that there is “considerable litigation risk” in defending Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy’s decision to withdraw federal clearance for the toll, and that doing so would almost certainly result in legal losses.

Instead, the three solicitors argued, the department could have a better chance if it used a different bureaucratic procedure to argue that the toll no longer matches with the federal government’s purpose.

A representative for the Southern District of New York, Nicholas Biase, said in a statement Thursday that the filing was “a completely honest error and was not intentional in any way.”

Meanwhile, the Transportation Department targeted the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office, announcing that the Southern District would withdraw from the lawsuit.

“Are the SDNY lawyers in this case incompetent, or was this an attempt to RESIST?” At the absolute least, it is legal misconduct,” a representative for the agency stated.

The declaration comes after three top prosecutors in the office quit and defiantly criticised their managers in Washington, claiming they were directed to handle a now-dismissed corruption investigation against Mayor Eric Adams in an unethical, improper, and wrong manner.

President Donald Trump’s pick to oversee the office, Jay Clayton, was sworn in this week.

Trump, whose namesake Trump Tower is located within the “congestion pricing” tolling zone, has been an outspoken opponent of the scheme and promised to repeal it once he assumed president.

In February, his administration ordered the state to shut down the scheme, claiming that federal approval for the toll had been revoked. Duffy called the initiative “a slap in the face to working-class Americans and small business owners.”

Within minutes, New York filed a federal lawsuit to keep the scheme alive, stating that it would continue to collect the toll until a judge ordered it to stop.

The Transportation Department has frequently encouraged New York to close the toll and has threatened to withhold cash and approvals for different transportation projects if it does not comply.

The toll amount varies depending on the type of vehicle and time of day. It has sparked criticism among suburban commuters in the metropolitan area because it adds to existing charges for traversing bridges and tunnels into the city.

Most cars pay $9 to enter Manhattan south of Central Park on weekdays from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. During off-peak hours, most vehicles pay a $2.25 toll.

New York officials have claimed that the scheme is helping to alleviate traffic in the city and would eventually generate billions of cash for its subways, commuter trains, and public buses.