Buenos Aires, May 6, 2026, 12:03 ART
- A prosecutor rejected an immediate arrest request against Chief of Staff Manuel Adorni, but investigators are moving ahead with phone forensics.
- The case centers on alleged illicit enrichment — whether a public official’s wealth and spending can be justified by lawful income.
- The inquiry lands as President Javier Milei faces weaker approval, economic strain and a broader run of scandals around his government.
Argentina’s federal prosecutor Gerardo Pollicita rejected a lawmaker’s request to immediately detain Cabinet Chief Manuel Adorni, but the case remained active after Judge Ariel Lijo ordered a forensic review of a contractor’s phone in the alleged illicit-enrichment probe.
The decision is a short-term relief for Adorni, a close Milei ally and former presidential spokesman. It is not a clean break. Investigators are now looking at whether messages or calls can support contractor Matías Tabar’s account that Adorni contacted him before testimony in the case.
The timing matters because Adorni is one of the faces of Milei’s austerity drive, and the president has built much of his appeal on attacking graft and the political “caste.” Keeping him in office now ties Milei more closely to a legal file that opposition lawmakers are using to test the government’s clean-government claim.
Tabar told prosecutors that Adorni paid about $245,929 in cash, in U.S. dollars, for works on a house in the Indio Cuá gated community in Exaltación de la Cruz, outside Buenos Aires. He said the payments were made without invoices or a written contract, and that the works included floors, windows, furniture and a renovated pool with a waterfall.
The property was bought for $120,000, according to reports cited in the case, less than half the amount now alleged for the renovations. The Casa Rosada rejected the contractor’s figure and said it would seek an expert assessment to challenge the testimony.
Adorni has denied wrongdoing. In Congress last week, he said he would not resign and told lawmakers: “I did not commit any crime, and I will prove it in court.” He also said questions about his personal trips and assets belonged to his private life and should not be treated as acts of government. Buenos Aires Herald
Milei turned that congressional appearance into a public show of support, attending with ministers and senior officials. Adorni told deputies he was there to “show my face,” while Milei’s presence signaled that the president was not ready to cut loose one of his most trusted aides. Buenos Aires Times
The political cost is already visible. AtlasIntel polling for Bloomberg News put Milei’s approval at 35.5% in April, down nearly 10 points from the start of the year, and found corruption had become Argentines’ top concern.
The Adorni case is also unfolding against a weaker economic backdrop. Marcelo J. García, Americas director at Horizon Engage, told the Associated Press that many Argentines may feel they are not seeing the benefits of Milei’s program, calling that “Milei’s biggest political risk.” AP News
There are other files circling the administration. Reports have pointed to alleged irregular expenses at state nuclear-power operator Nucleoeléctrica Argentina, undeclared assets involving other officials, and the $LIBRA cryptocurrency case, which drew scrutiny after Milei promoted the token before its price collapsed.
The risk for Milei is that the scandal stops looking like a single aide’s legal problem and starts looking like a pattern around the president’s inner circle. The risk for the opposition is different: if the phone review or asset checks weaken Tabar’s account, the government will say the case was another political operation.
For now, Adorni stays in office, the arrest push has failed, and the court file is still moving. That leaves Milei defending a chief of staff whose explanations have not ended the questions.
