“This idiot is going to sink us all,” says a government official, who switched off his mobile before quietly sharing his troubling assessment of Manuel Adorni’s never-ending scandal. The remark captures the mounting discomfort within the La Libertad Avanza government over the case.
Naturally, in political terms, it is easier to convey irritation with the still-serving Cabinet chief than with those who bear full responsibility for keeping him in post - the presidential inner circle.
No-one in the ruling coalition knows for certain why Adorni enjoys this level of protection, something no other member of the Executive Branch has managed in more than two years in office, a period that has seen a record number of senior officials forced out.
The conjectures follow familiar political logic. That Adorni acts as a lightning rod, absorbing all the negativity aimed at President Javier Milei’s administration. That they do not want to hand him over to what they see as the combined pressure of the judiciary, the opposition and the press. That this is a campaign designed to weaken or constrain Milei’s political project. More lurid hypotheses have also emerged, fuelled by the cascade of spending already surfacing in the judicial investigation into Adorni’s wealth and assets, much of it lacking proper justification. In dollars. In cash. In properties. In refurbishments. In travel. And with the possibility of further “surprises” to come.
Former libertarian lawmaker Marcela Pagano claims Adorni avoids dismissal because he serves as the cashier for the Milei siblings. No member of the government even dares to entertain that possibility openly.
What has begun to circulate instead are accounts of how involved the former presidential spokesman may have been in the ‘$LIBRA’ cryptocurrency scam, the memecoin promoted through a social media post by President Milei through a deal allegedly brokered by his sister Karina, according to another judicial case that is progressing at a glacial pace. Even so, the government’s chief concern over the Adorni scandal goes beyond the polling data indicating a drop in approval ratings.
There is growing anxiety that this episode - marked by the sudden rise in Adorni’s standard of living - could expose the possible distribution of additional funds among certain senior officials. What is commonly known as ‘sobresueldos,’ or “top-up salaries.” That suspicion has gained traction in recent days following a column in the Clarín newspaper, though the possibility had already been raised a month ago in the prosecutor’s office of Gerardo Pollicita, who is investigating the Adorni case.
Beyond the President’s overplayed shows of support, which merely prolong Adorni’s political agony - he has already been dropped from next year’s Buenos Aires City mayoral candidacy, according to reports – the last thing this intrigue-ridden and sclerotic Cabinet needs is for the scandal to drag it into the mire of top-up salaries. It would be a hymn to the very “caste” the administration claims to oppose. The consequences would be as unpredictable as they are dangerous.
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