Trump administration fires prosecutor in dropped case against politically-linked Indian billionaire

WASHINGTON — A federal prosecutor who had been assigned to the now-defunct case against a politically linked Indian billionaire has been fired by the Trump administration, two people familiar with the firing tell NBC News.

The prosecutor, who had been with the Justice Department’s Fraud Section in Washington, was one of two who previously asked to withdraw from the Gautam Adani case two days after Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Trent McCotter moved in May to dismiss the case against Adani.

Adani was charged in November 2024 in connection with an alleged scheme to defraud U.S. investors and pay off Indian government officials to win a bid to develop the country’s largest solar power plant. He called the accusations baseless.

Adani pledged to invest billions of dollars in the U.S., and Democratic lawmakers raised questions of a quid pro quo with the Trump administration to avoid prosecution. The federal judge hearing the case ordered Adani to explain whether any deal was made in connection with the government’s significant reversal. He denied it, and so did the Justice Department.

U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis of the Eastern District of New York eventually agreed to toss the case against Adani, though he blasted the Trump administration’s “ highly unusual ” conduct.

The prosecutor’s firing came a month later, the people said. The Trump administration has fired numerous federal employees without explanation, beyond citing Trump’s executive powers in letters, which Justice Department alumni have come to refer to as “Article II letters,” referring to a clause of the U.S. Constitution.

A spokesperson for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment. The prosecutor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Last week, Garaufis let stand some counts against some of Adani’s co-defendants, saying the Trump administration had “not provided sufficient factual information to support the stated reasons” for dismissing the charges.

Adani had pledged to invest billions of dollars in the United States but said in a sworn statement filed in July that he was “not aware of any agreement involving any person or entity exchanging anything for the dismissal of the indictment.”

An email from May from U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella referenced a slide deck presentation from Adani’s defense team that included a proposal to invest $10 billion in the United States, and Nocella wrote that the proposal was “categorically rejected” by the office.

The Justice Department has defended the decision to forgo its case against Adani, with McCotter saying 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 couldn’t be reached for comment about the prosecutor’s firing.