Javier Milei's chief of staff resigns amid corruption allegations

The chief of staff to Argentine President Javier Milei, Manuel Adorni, announced his resignation after being embroiled in a scandal related to his assets and personal spending, opening a new political crisis for the government.

In a letter addressed to the president and published on the social network X, Manuel Adorni explained that he was leaving his position "with a clear conscience", while acknowledging that, for the first time since Javier Milei came to power in December 2023, he was going against the will of the head of state.

A close collaborator of Milei, Adorni had initially served as the president's spokesperson before being appointed chief of staff in November 2025. He was considered one of the leading figures of the libertarian administration.

His resignation comes as the courts are investigating several allegations of illicit enrichment. Investigators are particularly interested in a level of spending deemed inconsistent with his declared income.

The politician has also been criticized for several private trips taken with his family, including a first-class holiday in Aruba during the Christmas holidays and a trip by private jet to Uruguay during the carnival period.

Manuel Adorni maintains that his fortune was amassed before he joined the government and asserts that all his trips were financed exclusively with personal funds. He rejects all accusations of corruption and vows to prove his innocence in court.

However, this month he admitted in an interview with the daily newspaper La Nación He had been holding undeclared sums of money for several years. He indicated that he had regularized his 2023 and 2024 tax returns to include approximately $500,000 that had not been declared previously.

"I acknowledge that I made an unintentional mistake and I will accept all the consequences," he said.

Until now, Javier Milei had publicly defended his colleague. In May, he had stated that Adorni would not leave the government, believing he was being unfairly targeted. His resignation nevertheless marks a political setback for the Argentine president, who had made the fight against corruption one of the main priorities of his term.