Manuel Adorni resigned as Argentina’s Cabinet chief on Saturday, telling President Javier Milei that \u00abendless media attacks\u00bb had forced his hand \u2013 two weeks after admitting he had concealed around US$500,000 in his previous official asset declarations.<\/p>\n
\u00abThe endless media attacks I have endured have led me to ask you, this time, to stand by me so I can close this chapter and protect myself and my family,\u00bb Adorni wrote in an open letter to Milei published on X.<\/p>\n
The 46-year-old, who is under investigation for alleged illicit enrichment,\u00a0denies any wrongdoing.<\/p>\n
Adorni has spent more than three months under intense scrutiny following revelations about property purchases and expensive trips made after he entered public life in December 2023.<\/p>\n
Argentina’s\u00a0Judiciary, opposition lawmakers and government allies had all demanded to know the origin of the undisclosed funds, but Adorni has failed to provide answers.<\/p>\n
Earlier this month, Adorni told LN+ channel in an interview that for years, as Argentina suffered chronically high inflation, he and his wife had saved \u00abunder the table, like all Argentines.\u00bb<\/p>\n
During years of spiralling inflation, Argentines often swap weakening pesos for US dollars, often keeping the cash at home.<\/p>\n
In recent weeks, he attributed the money to cryptocurrency investments made between 2014 and 2018.<\/p>\n
\u00abI will pay every last cent of tax I owe,\u00bb he said.<\/p>\n
But the explanation quickly unravelled: old videos surfaced in which Adorni made remarks\u00a0about cryptocurrency that contradicted his recent claims, and lawmakers pointed back to his own categorical assertion before the legislature in April that \u00abthere was never any concealment whatsoever\u00bb of his assets.<\/p>\n
Karina Milei, the president’s sister and presidential chief-of-staff, offered measured solidarity on X.<\/p>\n
\u00abDear Manuel, thank you for your tireless work throughout this time and for defending the ideas of liberty with a passion and commitment rarely seen,\u00bb she wrote in a message later reposted by the President.<\/p>\n
\u00abWe know of the difficult \u2013 and undeserved \u2013 moment you and your family have been going through for months, and we respect your decision,\u00bb she wrote.<\/p>\n
Karina described Adorni as \u00aba person of integrity, valued and deeply appreciated\u00bb by the government team and said his decision to resign had the full backing of the Casa Rosada.<\/p>\n
\u00abYou are a person of integrity, valued and deeply appreciated by all of us,\u00bb she added.<\/p>\n
The opposition was less charitable. \u00abAdorni is leaving and good, because he’s a thief,\u00bb wrote opposition Peronist deputy Kelly Olmos on X.<\/p>\n
Ruling party Senator Patricia Bullrich, meanwhile, stressed the importance of \u00abtrust\u00bb and \u00abethics\u00bb in government.<\/p>\n
Writing on social media, the head of the ruling party’s Senate caucus, had criticised Adorni over he came under suspicion for allegations of illicit enrichment.<\/p>\n
\u00abTrust and ethics are two fundamental pillars for deepening the change that the President, the Argentine people and the entire country are building,\u00bb Bullrich wrote on X in a post later reposted by Milei.<\/p>\n
An accountant by training, Adorni rose to public prominence over the past five years through social media and as an economics commentator on radio and television.<\/p>\n
When Milei took office in December 2023, he appointed him presidential spokesman \u2013\u00a0a role Adorni filled with a direct, sardonic style at press conferences. \u00abI have the best spokesman in the world,\u00bb Milei used to say.<\/p>\n
Adorni went on to lead La Libertad Avanza’s legislative ticket in Buenos Aires City in 2025, though he did not take up his seat. Following the ruling party’s victory and the exit of Guillermo Francos from government, Adorni was appointed Cabinet chief in November of that year.<\/p>\n
The crisis began in March, when it emerged his wife had travelled aboard\u00a0the presidential plane to New York. Reports then emerged of expensive private jet trips to Uruguay.\u00a0The revelations\u00a0triggered a federal investigation into alleged illicit enrichment, after undeclared property and spending inconsistent with his declared income came to light.<\/p>\n
The resignation strikes at Milei’s innermost circle of trust. The president had backed Adorni until the last moment, though he softened his position slightly on Friday. \u00abI believe in his honesty, but if the courts find him guilty, I’ll eject him with a kick,\u00bb he told one media outlet.<\/p>\n
The case had also opened internal fault lines. The PRO party of former centre-right president Mauricio Macri \u2013\u00a0a government ally \u2013 called the affair a \u00abserious lapse,\u00bb while ruling-party senator Patricia Bullrich described it as an \u00abethical omission.\u00bb<\/p>\n
Political analyst Facundo Cruz put it bluntly: the situation had become \u00aba boomerang for the government,\u00bb with each attempt by Adorni to explain his finances had only made \u00aban already opaque situation murkier.\u00bb<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Adorni’s resignation letter<\/strong><\/h2>\nDear President,<\/p>\n
Thank you. Thank you for understanding my reasons, and for understanding me: for the first time since that December 10, 2023, I am going against your wishes. Thank you for accepting my resignation this time\u00a0as Chief of the Cabinet of the Ministers of the Nation.<\/p>\n
You know everything I have suffered throughout this time. The endless media attacks I have endured have led me to ask you, this time, to stand by me so that I can close this chapter and protect myself and my family. The media campaigns have gone to extremes \u2013\u00a0not only against me, but against my wife, my young children, my friends, my family, and even my neighbours and those close to me.<\/p>\n
The lies that have been told were of the most varied kind: trips that never happened, astronomical and extravagant spending, non-existent and fabricated contracts between my wife and the state or public companies, mansions and luxury cars, crypto \u00abfarms\u00bb operated in collusion with the Presidential Security detail, nepotism, personal expenses paid with public funds, the existence of an alleged USB drive \u00abfull of dollars\u00bb (yes, President, a USB drive \u00abfull of dollars\u00bb), companies in Uruguay, cosmetic surgeries costing thousands of dollars, and dozens of other falsehoods. They have even suggested I paid millions to keep people quiet about me.<\/p>\n
I have been branded a criminal and a corrupt official without a single act of corruption to my name. They went so far as to claim that my continued tenure in office was because I had you and the presidential chief-of-staff under my thumb through blackmail. They also attacked my personal life: they went after my children, my wife, my family, my friends, and everyone I hold dear. They confused the public with the private and the intimate. They invented lovers, children, siblings, divorces, and even a biological father different from my real one. They struck at the deepest part of a human being \u2013\u00a0or at least what any decent person would choose to hold above all else. Protecting those I love is precisely what I am reaffirming today.<\/p>\n
There is a limit to cruelty, and I have found mine. We have given everything \u2013\u00a0in strictly professional terms, but also as a family and spiritually. Perhaps it is simply that ordinary people are not allowed to occupy these positions. Or perhaps they are: you are Argentina’s only hope. I no longer say this from the inside, but now from the outside. My life before public life was always oriented towards ensuring that my children might one day be able to leave and seek a better future elsewhere. Since we took office, I worked only for the opposite to happen \u2013\u00a0so that they would never have to leave the country. And you are the only guarantee that it will. I hope society keeps choosing you, always, every day. I will do so from wherever I find myself. Everything I could contribute to the country and the cause, I have already done at your side. I regret that the harassment, the lies and the media’s constant attempts to destroy my reputation sought to cause us so much harm \u2013\u00a0but I cannot continue to expose so many people I love to this media bloodbath. I am a simple citizen who one day wanted to contribute to a project that is placing Argentina at the forefront of the world; an ordinary citizen, with a life that is no more and no less than the one I have always had. Unfortunately, not everyone wants what we want, Mr President.<\/p>\n
Despite these circumstances, I am proud to have been part of this journey, and to have stood by you through every achievement we have had as a government. I am glad to have been at your side, and at the side of the presidential chief-of-staff, the fundamental pillar of every step we have taken. As you know, I also fulfilled to the letter, right up until the last day, that special request you made of me that night at the Olivos Presidential Residence, minutes after offering me the role of Cabinet chief in your government.<\/p>\n
Thank you, President. Thank you for having trusted me from the very beginning, and for standing by me through this so unjust, painful and draining process for me and my family. Thank you for not being swayed by the old political class, or the media, or the pressures \u2013 whether political or journalistic. Thank you for being a person of integrity, because ultimately we both know that is what life comes down to.<\/p>\n
Allow me to take the liberty of congratulating and thanking my work teams, who from my previous position in government did everything to ensure your objectives were met. Thank you to them too for giving everything they had.<\/p>\n
My thanks also to the ministerial teams and to each of your ministers for their warmth, their support and, above all, for\u00a0working day after day towards the course you have set, President.<\/p>\n
Thank you too to all those who supported me, inside and outside government. Thank you to those who, without knowing me, were able to read the truth amid so many lies.<\/p>\n
I close this chapter. I step aside calm and composed \u2013\u00a0but above all, with a clear conscience and firm in my convictions.<\/p>\n
Do you know what, President? Tonight I am going to sleep in absolute peace with myself and with\u00a0everything I have done for the country. I hope that many of those who did everything to harm me can one day achieve the same. Life is made of small things \u2013\u00a0those I never lost, and would never allow myself to lose.<\/p>\n
Here I end, President. It has been a true honour to serve you, and through you, the Homeland. Allow me to insist: the future of Argentina depends on you and your ideas.<\/p>\n
Thank you, Javier. Thank you, Karina.<\/p>\n
A huge embrace.<\/p>\n
Hasta siempre,<\/em><\/p>\nManuel Adorni<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2013 TIMES\/AFP\/PERFIL<\/p>\n
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![\"e-planning](\"https:\/\/ads.us.e-planning.net\/eb\/3\/212f2\/articulo\/teads?o=i&rnd=$RANDOM\")
Manuel Adorni<\/p>\n
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\u2013 TIMES\/AFP\/PERFIL<\/p>\n
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