The United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York has told a federal court that the decision to seek dismissal of the criminal indictment against Gautam Adani and other defendants was taken by senior Justice Department leadership, and that he has no reason to doubt the grounds cited for seeking the case’s closure.
In a declaration filed before the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York on July 17, US Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General (PADAG) Trent McCotter exercised his authority after multiple meetings with defence counsel and Justice Department officials, concluding that “further resources should not be deployed in this prosecution” and directing that the indictment be dismissed.
The declaration was submitted in response to a July 15 court order seeking clarity on whether the reasons advanced by the Justice Department for dismissing the prosecution were genuine.
Nocella stated that while he attended several meetings related to the matter, he was “not the decisionmaker” on the motion to dismiss and had no role in drafting McCotter’s explanatory letter to the court.
He added that his May 11 email and his signature on the May 18 motion seeking dismissal were issued under McCotter’s direction or authorisation.
Addressing the court’s specific concern, Nocella said he had “no basis to believe” that the reasons put forward by McCotter for seeking dismissal were anything other than “the real grounds upon which the application is based.”
