US lawmakers say Adani indictment 'unwise decision', demand probe

Joe Biden, Gautam Adani

Six US Congressmen have demanded a probe into the indictment of Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and other officials under the previous Joe Biden administration, calling it a “misguided crusade" that put ties with India at risk.

Their letter to the new Attorney General Pam Bondi comes ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s two- day visit to the US, where bilateral ties will be the focus his meeting with President Donald Trump.

It also coincides with Trump signing an executive order on February 11, directing the justice department to pause prosecutions of Americans accused of bribing foreign government officials while trying to win or retain business in their countries.

Trump's order pauses enforcement of the nearly half-century-old Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and directs Attorney General Pam Bondi to review current and past actions related to the law and prepare new guidelines for enforcement.

The US prosecutors charged Adani with criminal indictment over involvement in an alleged plan that promised to pay more than $250 million in bribes to government officials for solar energy contracts.

The move, the six lawmakers said, was one of the "unwise decisions" taken by the previous government.

Lance Gooden, Pat Fallon, Mike Haridopolos, Brandon Gill, William R Timmons and Brian Babin, said the Biden administration’s action was a "misguided crusade", which came at the risk of harming US relations with a "strategic geopolitical partner" like India.

"This case rests on the allegation that preparations were made by members of this company in India to bribe Indian officials, also exclusively located in India. Instead of deferring the case to the appropriate Indian authorities, the Biden DoJ decided to push forward and indict the company's executives without any real injury to US interests being present," they said.

"Needless pursuits against those who have contributed tens of billions and created thousands of jobs deter and discourage investors from contributing to our economy. Considering these factors and the lack of any real injury to US interests, the decision to pursue this indictment demonstrates more harm for America's interests than good, if any."

The lawmakers alleged that the action came with the risk of jeopardising US-India relations just before Donald Trump's return to the Oval office.

"President Trump has always recognised the true potential of a strong and beneficial relationship between two economic and military superpowers like the US and India," they wrote.

"Conversely, politically motivated decisions by agencies steered by left-wing megadonors could quickly erode years of hard work and diplomacy forged by our leaders. A fallout in relations not only harms our longstanding partnership with a key ally but greatly benefits adversaries like China in their goal to eliminate the American economy and achieve total global economic control through their Belt and Road Initiative (BRI)," they said.

A press statement from the US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York had accused Adani and group officials "with conspiracies to commit securities and wire fraud and substantive securities fraud." They were charged for their roles in a "multi-billion-dollar scheme to obtain funds from US investors and global financial institutions on the basis of false and misleading statements."

The Adani Group strongly denied the allegations, calling them baseless.

"The Adani Group has always upheld and is steadfastly committed to maintaining the highest standards of governance, transparency and regulatory compliance across all jurisdictions of its operations," said the statement by an Adani Group spokesperson.

(With agency inputs)