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

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.

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.