Trump's DOJ drops bribery case against billionaire Gautam Adani

In October 2024, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn indicted Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of India's Adani Group, and seven other executives, alleging they schemed to pay more than $250 million in bribes to Indian state officials to secure solar-power contracts. The indictment tied the scheme to the United States by alleging the defendants concealed the bribery from bankers and investors as Adani Green Energy raised money through bond offerings and loans.

The Adani Group initially retained lawyers from Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz; Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan; and Kirkland & Ellis, who argued to prosecutors in early 2025 that the case should be dropped; senior Justice Department officials were unswayed. In July 2025 the Adani Group brought in Sullivan & Cromwell — the firm that also represents President Trump in two New York appeals — which made presentations to senior department officials in Washington in February and April 2026.

On May 18, 2026, senior Justice Department officials moved to dismiss the charges, an unusual step for a case already brought. The motion bore none of the signatures of the line prosecutors who brought the case, signaling their disagreement. Trent McCotter, the principal associate deputy attorney general, had final say; a department spokeswoman said he based the decision on the merits and that there were no losses to U.S. investors. The motion awaits a judge's approval.

The Wall Street Journal, citing seven people familiar with the matter, reported that Boris Epshteyn, Trump's personal attorney, was said to have joined the Adani defense effort, though he did not attend meetings with prosecutors or appear on legal papers. Epshteyn, the Adani Group, Sullivan & Cromwell, and the Justice Department all denied that he had any relationship with Adani or any role in the matter; Epshteyn called the report "false, malicious, and defamatory." Adani had pledged, days after Trump's election, to invest $10 billion in the United States, and the family explored donating to Trump's planned White House ballroom or future presidential library. The Adanis separately agreed to pay $293 million to resolve a related Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit and a Treasury investigation into purchases of Iranian liquefied petroleum gas in violation of U.S. sanctions.