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Foreign Money and Favors
The Adani Dismissal

Trump's DOJ Tried to Drop a $265 Million Bribery Case, Then Gave the Judge an Ultimatum

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Chapter 1 — One Official Tried to End the Entire Prosecution

Chapter 2 — The Judge Accepted One Ground and Exposed the Rest

Chapter 3 — DOJ Resisted the Check, and a Prosecutor Lost His Job

1 · One Official Tried to End the Entire Prosecution

1 · One Official Tried to End the Entire Prosecution — select a subtopic

1.1 — An Ultimatum in Place of Facts

1.2 — A Dismissal Built Largely With Defense Lawyers

1 · One Official Tried to End the Entire Prosecution
1.1 · One Official Tried to End the Entire Prosecution
An Ultimatum in Place of Facts

Trump's Justice Department asked a judge to end permanently all five counts in a prosecution alleging approximately $265 million in bribes and almost $4 billion raised while concealing them. Judge Nicholas Garaufis dismissed three fraud counts on a supported legal ground and reserved the bribery and obstruction counts until DOJ supplied facts. The deciding official, R. Trent McCotter, answered with a deadline: dismiss by August 25 or he would seek appellate relief. Garaufis denied the request on September 3, without prejudice.

Read the full chapter — all the detail, fully footnoted →

Sources
[1]Memorandum and Order, United States v. Adani et al., No. 1:24-cr-00433-NGG, ECF 49 (E.D.N.Y. August 10, 2026), Nicholas G. Garaufis, J., 47 pp.
[2]Sarah N. Lynch and Jennifer Jacobs, CBS News, Federal prosecutor who withdrew from dismissed bribery case against Indian billionaire Adani fired, sources say (updated September 10, 2026)
[3]Memorandum and Order, United States v. Adani et al., No. 1:24-cr-00433-NGG, ECF 57 (E.D.N.Y. September 3, 2026), Nicholas G. Garaufis, J., 14 pp.
[4]Memorandum and Order, United States v. Adani et al., No. 1:24-cr-00433-NGG, ECF 36 (E.D.N.Y. June 26, 2026), Nicholas G. Garaufis, J., 5 pp.
1.2 · One Official Tried to End the Entire Prosecution
A Dismissal Built Largely With Defense Lawyers

The judge found that R. Trent McCotter was the sole decisionmaker and described the decision as reached largely with defense lawyers, including Trump's attorney Robert Giuffra. McCotter said he also met separately with department lawyers and did his own research and analysis. Trump ordered a review of existing foreign-bribery cases and new enforcement guidance, which McCotter later invoked. Trump's personal direction of the dismissal has not been established.

Read the full chapter — all the detail, fully footnoted →

Sources
[1]Memorandum and Order, United States v. Adani et al., No. 1:24-cr-00433-NGG, ECF 49 (E.D.N.Y. August 10, 2026), Nicholas G. Garaufis, J., 47 pp.
[3]Memorandum and Order, United States v. Adani et al., No. 1:24-cr-00433-NGG, ECF 57 (E.D.N.Y. September 3, 2026), Nicholas G. Garaufis, J., 14 pp.
[5]U.S. Department of Justice, Justice Manual section 9-2.050, Dismissal of Indictments and Informations (captured October 11, 2026)
[6]U.S. Senate roll call vote 230, confirmation of Todd Blanche as Attorney General (August 8, 2026)

2 · The Judge Accepted One Ground and Exposed the Rest

2 · The Judge Accepted One Ground and Exposed the Rest — select a subtopic

2.1 — The Strongest Defense Won the Fraud Dismissal

2.2 — Indian Decisions Did Not Clear the Charged Conduct

2 · The Judge Accepted One Ground and Exposed the Rest
2.1 · The Judge Accepted One Ground and Exposed the Rest
The Strongest Defense Won the Fraud Dismissal

DOJ had a real legal argument: broad promises to obey anti-bribery laws could be too general to support fraud charges. Garaufis found that argument supported and substantial enough to permit dismissal, and found the statements too general to sustain wire-fraud charges. He also accepted that Adani's $10 billion investment promise did not drive the decision. Garaufis also accepted McCotter's stated reasons as his real reasons for seeking dismissal; he separately tested whether the record supplied sufficient facts to support them.

Read the full chapter — all the detail, fully footnoted →

Sources
[1]Memorandum and Order, United States v. Adani et al., No. 1:24-cr-00433-NGG, ECF 49 (E.D.N.Y. August 10, 2026), Nicholas G. Garaufis, J., 47 pp.
2.2 · The Judge Accepted One Ground and Exposed the Rest
Indian Decisions Did Not Clear the Charged Conduct

McCotter gave six general reasons to dismiss every count; Garaufis found none supported by facts. Indian investigations, McCotter said, had found no actionable misconduct, but the judge found the documents appeared instead to decline investigations. DOJ's new foreign-bribery priorities also described several features of the conduct alleged in this case.

Read the full chapter — all the detail, fully footnoted →

Sources
[1]Memorandum and Order, United States v. Adani et al., No. 1:24-cr-00433-NGG, ECF 49 (E.D.N.Y. August 10, 2026), Nicholas G. Garaufis, J., 47 pp.

3 · DOJ Resisted the Check, and a Prosecutor Lost His Job

3 · DOJ Resisted the Check, and a Prosecutor Lost His Job — select a subtopic

3.1 — Tyler's Firing and Where the Case Stands

3 · DOJ Resisted the Check, and a Prosecutor Lost His Job

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