U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche gestures as he speaks during a press conference to announce actions regarding a Chinese national marriage fraud scheme, at the Justice Department (DOJ) in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 12, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
A former prosecutor was stunned that lawyers for an Indian billionaire offered the Justice Department a $10 billion investment in exchange for dropping criminal fraud charges.
During an episode of Illegal News, ex-DOJ prosecutor Andrew Weissmann added that it was "unthinkable" that defense lawyers for Gautam Adani would put the offer in writing and said the case "stinks to high heaven."
Adani and others were indicted in the Eastern District of New York in 2024 on investor fraud and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act charges, Weissmann explained. According to a ruling by Judge Nicholas Garaufis, defense lawyers proposed resolving the case by having Adani invest $10 billion in the United States, an offer Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella rejected in an email quoted in the ruling.
The case has drawn scrutiny over its timing. Weissmann noted that Adani praised Trump publicly the day after he won the election, and about a week later pledged to invest $10 billion in what Weissmann called Trump's America. Adani's lawyers later pointed prosecutors to that same pledge, framing the criminal case as an obstacle to the investment, which was the offer Nocella rejected in his email.
"That is never said under any administration," Weissmann, who worked at the DOJ for two decades and once led its fraud section, said. He described experienced counsel showing up at DOJ to "say dismiss these cases, and then we will invest $10 billion" as something he had never encountered in decades of corporate cases.
"It's just unthinkable," he said. "Are you on crack? Like, what the hell happened?"
Weissmann said career prosecutors signaled opposition, with the U.S. attorney calling the dismissal "not my decision" and two fraud-section attorneys withdrawing from the case. He noted that the defense team came from Sullivan & Cromwell and included a lawyer who represents Donald Trump personally, including Robert Giuffra Jr.
Garaufis dismissed some charges but ordered the DOJ to justify dropping others, which Weissmann described as "a very brave decision" because the law heavily favors the government. The judge also noted that the indictment matched Attorney General Todd Blanche's own FCPA memo.
"The corruption is staggering," Weissmann said.