The Trump administration has fired a federal prosecutor who was assigned to the now-dismissed case against Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The prosecutor, who worked in the Justice Department’s Fraud Section in Washington, was one of two attorneys who had previously requested to withdraw from the case two days after Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter moved in May to dismiss the charges against Adani.
Background of the Case
Adani was charged in November 2024 in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud U.S. investors and bribe Indian government officials to secure a contract for developing the country’s largest solar power plant. Adani has consistently denied the accusations, calling them baseless.
Political and Legal Controversy
The case drew significant political attention after Adani pledged to invest billions of dollars in the United States. Democratic lawmakers raised concerns about a potential quid pro quo between Adani and the Trump administration to avoid prosecution. The federal judge overseeing the case, U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York, ordered Adani to explain whether any deal was made in connection with the government’s decision to drop the charges. Both Adani and the Justice Department denied any such arrangement.
Judge Garaufis eventually agreed to dismiss the case against Adani, but he criticized the administration’s “highly unusual” conduct. The prosecutor’s firing came about a month after the dismissal, the sources said.
Context of the Firing
The Trump administration has fired numerous federal employees without detailed explanations, often citing executive powers in letters that Justice Department alumni have dubbed “Article II letters,” referencing a clause of the U.S. Constitution. The prosecutor did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Related Developments
Last week, Judge Garaufis allowed some counts to stand against certain co-defendants of Adani, stating that the administration had “not provided sufficient factual information to support the stated reasons” for dismissing the charges.
Adani, in a sworn statement filed in July, said he was “not aware of any agreement involving any person or entity exchanging anything for the dismissal of the indictment.” An email from May by U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella referenced a slide deck from Adani’s defense team that proposed a $10 billion investment in the United States, but Nocella wrote that the proposal was “categorically rejected.”
The Justice Department has defended the decision to drop the case, with McCotter stating that the case was “indefensible” and that he “would have sought dismissal of the securities charges regardless of any mentions of investments, regardless of whether the civil case (or any other matter) was settled or otherwise resolved.” An attorney for Adani could not be reached for comment about the prosecutor’s firing.