BUENOS AIRES — Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni resigned over the weekend as Argentine federal prosecutors investigated him for suspected illicit enrichment, becoming the most senior official to leave Milei’s government since he took office in late 2023. Adorni denied wrongdoing and blamed the media for his downfall.
Adorni, a 46-year-old accountant by training who served as Milei’s spokesman and the public face of the administration’s austerity drive, came under scrutiny over how he could afford private jet travel and extensive renovations to his country house while on a government salary of less than $3,000 a month. He denies wrongdoing.
Argentine prosecutors opened an investigation into Adorni in March on suspicion of illicit enrichment. Investigators examined two property purchases, roughly $500,000 in previously undeclared savings, a $245,000 renovation to his country home, and his use of private jet travel. Video footage emerged showing Adorni and his family boarding a private jet to Uruguay on vacation.
Adorni said his wealth came from savings, cash he found in his late father’s apartment, and gains on an early bitcoin investment before entering politics — an explanation that drew skepticism from members of Argentina’s crypto community. He later acknowledged in a television interview that he had hidden $500,000 from tax authorities, saying it was common in Argentina to save “off the books.”
The resignation is the most prominent fallout yet from a series of investigations that now reach into Milei’s innermost circle. Federal prosecutors are also examining Milei’s promotion of the $Libra cryptocurrency and an alleged kickback scheme involving his sister, Karina Milei. The probes have shifted attention from Milei’s economic record to questions about transparency in an administration that campaigned on dismantling the privileges of Argentina’s political class.
For months, Milei declined to remove Adorni, arguing that dismissing him before a court ruling would encourage what he called “political witch hunts.” As momentum to oust Adorni gathered in Congress and the scandal increasingly overshadowed the government’s legislative agenda, Adorni’s resignation became inevitable.
“I continue to believe Adorni is innocent. He is an honest person,” Milei said in a television interview Sunday. He later named veteran politician Diego Santilli as cabinet chief, a role roughly equivalent to chief of staff.
Adorni blamed the media for his downfall in a letter to Milei posted to X Saturday night. “They have treated me like a criminal and a corrupt man without a single act of corruption to my name,” he said.
Other investigations involving Milei’s inner circle have mounted. Federal prosecutors are probing Milei’s promotion of the $Libra cryptocurrency, which soared in value after he endorsed it on social media in February 2025 and crashed hours later, wiping out millions in investors’ funds. Milei has said he was highlighting a private initiative and had no direct involvement. He has been named a person of interest but has not been charged and is shielded from arrest while in office.
Karina Milei, the president’s sister, has been implicated in a separate investigation into an alleged kickback scheme involving government drug purchases through Argentina’s national disability agency. She denies wrongdoing.
José Luis Espert, a key Milei ally, withdrew as the president’s congressional candidate ahead of last year’s midterm elections after it emerged he had received a $200,000 transfer from an Argentine businessman who later pleaded guilty in the U.S. to money laundering and fraud. Espert said the money was payment for consulting work and denies wrongdoing.
Opposition lawmaker Maximiliano Ferraro, who has led congressional efforts to investigate the $Libra scandal, said the allegations have been especially damaging because Milei promised better. “Adorni tried to convince us that most Argentines keep undeclared cash, when in reality most Argentines can barely make it through the day or to the end of the month,” Ferraro said. He added that Milei’s government has “reproduced the very worst privileges of the political caste they claimed they came to eradicate.”
The corruption investigations could also affect Washington’s support for Milei, analysts said. The Trump administration has backed Milei as a showcase for free-market reforms, extending a $20 billion currency swap ahead of the country’s midterm elections last year. “If there are signs that the government is unable to advance or that Milei is really at risk then that may change the way the Trump administration thinks,” said Oliver Stuenkel, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington.