Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn have asked a judge to drop bribery-related charges against the Indian tycoon Gautam Adani. This decision not only has significant geopolitical and domestic ramifications, but it also appears to highlight the transactional nature of the Justice Department under President Trump. In a brief letter, prosecutors stated they had decided “not to devote further resources” to the case against Mr. Adani and seven others.
When the Justice Department indicted India’s richest man in the final weeks of the Biden administration, prosecutors described an “elaborate” bribery scheme involving “corruption and fraud at the expense of U.S. investors.” Per the New York Times, the case was one of the most ambitious white-collar prosecutions in recent years, so seeing it dropped at such an early stage is definitely strange. At least until you see the whole picture.
