Warren, Blumenthal Open Investigation Into DOJ’s Move to Drop Charges Against Billionaire

Warren, Blumenthal Open Investigation Into DOJ's Move to Drop Charges Against Billionaire

Adani hired President Trump's personal lawyer and reportedly offered to invest $10 billion in the United States to persuade the DOJ to drop its case

"DOJ's actions doubly undermine global efforts to combat bribery: they appear to reduce accountability for the crime of bribery while also suggesting that quid-pro-quos can successfully undermine the enforcement of our laws."

Text of Letter (PDF)

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) pressed Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for answers following the Department of Justice's (DOJ) request to drop its criminal case against billionaire Gautam Adani after he hired President Trump's personal lawyer and reportedly offered a quid-pro-quo deal to invest $10 billion in the United States in return.

"Mr. Adani appeared to engage in transparent influence-peddling to avoid accountability," wrote the senators.

In its 2024 indictment, the DOJ alleged that Adani knowingly participated in a scheme to bribe Indian government officials and mislead investors to secure billions of dollars in investments-including at least $175 million from U.S. investors, per the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Adani hired a new legal team led by Robert J. Giuffra Jr., one of President Trump's personal attorneys. In April, Mr. Giuffra reportedly met with prosecutors at DOJ headquarters to try and convince them to drop the charges. As part of his pitch to prosecutors, Mr. Giuffra reportedly included a highly unusual offer that the tycoon would invest $10 billion in the U.S. economy if prosecutors dropped the charges against him. While prosecutors reportedly "told Mr. Giuffra that the $10 billion investment would play no role in the resolution of the criminal case," the offer reportedly "received a favorable response from at least one senior Justice Department official at the meeting."

The DOJ then sought to dismiss the charges against him without any substantive rationale beyond the decision to not "devote further resources" to the case. This dismissal would prevent the DOJ from bringing the same charges against him again in the future.

"The DOJ's decision gives the appearance that Mr. Adani - with the help of one of the President's personal lawyers - bought his way to criminal immunity, trading the promise of an investment in the United States for immunity from an alleged multi-billion dollar bribery scheme," wrote Senator Warren.

Within weeks of the DOJ's move to drop criminal charges, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sought to settle its parallel civil case against Adani for $6 million without an admission of wrongdoing, while the Treasury Department settled allegations of sanction violation with an Adani subsidiary.

The senators note that the DOJ's abandonment of the Adani case fits a pattern of favorable treatment for Trump's allies, pointing to pardons granted to major Trump donors and the DOJ's decision to decline to prosecute over 6,000 white-collar crime cases in the first six months of this administration, a 59% increase from the last three administrations.

"This refusal to prosecute those accused of white-collar crimes allows guilty parties to get off scot-free, keeping their ill-gotten wealth earned by cheating hard-working Americans," wrote the senators.

"The reports of Mr. Adani's offer to the DOJ last month appear to represent an egregious quid-pro-quo offer and a blatant attempt by a wealthy individual to buy his way to leniency - and the DOJ's decision to seek to drop all criminal charges against him weeks later gives the appearance that the DOJ is an equal partner in corrupt behavior," concluded the senators.

Senators Warren and Blumenthal asked the DOJ to explain how the DOJ came to the decision to seek to drop the charges against Adani; if Adani, or his representatives, made an offer, implicitly or explicitly, to invest $10 billion in the United States if the DOJ dropped its prosecution of him; and if anyone from the White House communicated with the DOJ regarding Adani's case by June 25, 2026.

Senator Warren has led the fight to root out corruption and hold the Trump administration accountable:

• In June 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), along with Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Mike Levin (D-Calif.), pressed White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles following reports that the White House interfered to deliver a lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contract to Vulcan Elements, a key Trump Jr.-linked company.
• In May 2026, Senator Elizabeth Warren pressed the Acting Director-Designate for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), David Venturella, on his decades-long revolving door career between ICE and the private prison industry and his reported use of Department of Homeland Security (DHS) personnel and resources for personal or political favors.
• In May 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) introduced the Banning Lobbying And Safeguarding Trust (BLAST) Act, a bipartisan bill to impose a lifetime ban on lobbying by former members of Congress.
• In February 2026, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), along with Representatives Pat Ryan (D-N.Y.) and Deborah Ross (D-N.C.) pressed the Inspectors General (IGs) of 16 key agencies to open investigations into senior Trump officials who were recently lobbyists or "shadow lobbyists" and may be using their roles to benefit their former employers and clients.
• In January 2026, Senators Warren (D-Mass.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), and Andy Kim (D-N.J.), pressed Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on potential conflicts of interest surrounding the awarding of multiple lucrative Department of Defense (DoD) contracts and loans to companies associated with President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr.
• In December 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Chris Deluzio (D-Pa.) pressed the Trump administration to follow through on promises to limit defense companies' stock buybacks and incentivize them to increase research and development spending.
• In December 2025, Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called for then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to recuse herself from the Department of Justice (DOJ)'s review of any Warner Bros. merger due to potential conflicts of interest related to her former employer, lobbying firm Ballard Partners.
• In September 2025, Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, wrote to Donald Korb, nominee for Chief Counsel for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), ahead of Korb's confirmation hearing, pressing him on his stark conflicts of interest and urging him to make ethics commitments to mitigate these conflicts.
• In July 2025, Senators Warren (D-Mass.) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.) wrote to former Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin seeking an explanation and further information on his recent decision to start a strategic advisory firm. Austin had publicly promised Senator Warren during his 2021 confirmation process that he would not become a lobbyist after his government service ended.
• In July 2023, United States Senators Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Personnel, and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), and United States Representatives Jason Crow (D-Colo.) and Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) introduced the Retired Officers Conflict of Interest Act - a bill that would require public reporting on retired service members working on behalf of foreign governments and creating civil penalties if they break the law.
• In December 2020, Senator Warren (D-Mass.) and Representative Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) reintroduced the Anti-Corruption & Public Integrity Act to strengthen ethics laws and crack down on government officials' conflicts of interest across the government.

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