In There’s something therethe cycle driven by Thomas Rebord on the streaming platform Blender, the journalist Manu Jove He remembered an anecdote that Baby Etchecopar had told about Manuel Adorni. According to the panelist, a few years ago, before La Libertad Avanza came to power, the host of Radio Rivadavia even gave socks to the current Chief of Staff because his salary was not enough at the end of the month.
At that time, Adorni was a recurring guest on the Etchecopar radio segment and, according to testimonies, his colleagues in the radio studio helped him financially so he could buy a coffee. At that time, the accountant and tweeter was considered a liberal influencer and was received on current political programs to give his opinion close to the nascent libertarian movement that he led. Javier Milei.
The libertarian official is going through one of the most significant political crises of his administration following a series of journalistic revelations and judicial complaints that put his assets, the declaration of assets and the use of resources on official and private trips under suspicion, in a context of growing tension with the press and the opposition.
The initial axis of the scandal focused on inconsistencies between the assets declared by the official and the appearance of properties not included in his sworn statements before the Anti-Corruption Office. According to official records and journalistic reconstructions, Adorni had declared two properties until 2024: an apartment in the City of Buenos Aires —of which he owns 50%— and another in La Plata received by family donation. However, new investigations revealed the existence of at least other unrecorded properties, including the home where he currently resides in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Caballito, which the official himself ended up publicly admitting even though it did not appear in his last asset presentation.
In parallel, real estate records exposed the recent purchase of a 200-square-meter apartment on Miró Street, in Caballito, acquired for a large sum in dollars, an operation that once again raised questions about the origin of the funds used, given that it does not correspond to the official income of the position. The acquisition occurred without the official disposing of other previously declared properties, deepening suspicions about a possible unjustified increase in assets.
The doubts were expanded with the complaint filed by deputy Marcela Pagano, who pointed out that Adorni and his wife, Bettina Angeletti, had built a two-story home in the country Indio Cuá Golf Club, in the Buenos Aires district of Exaltación de la Cruz. This information arose from the crossing of registry information and real estate movements linked to the couple, and was especially sensitive because the property did not appear in the official’s sworn statements. The location of the property—about 80 kilometers from the City of Buenos Aires—was confirmed from cadastral records and testimonies disseminated in the media, consolidating the hypothesis of the existence of a high-value residence outside the official radar.
The wealth scandal quickly became intertwined with a series of travel controversies that aggravated the political situation. In March 2026, it was learned that Adorni had participated in the presidential tour to New York, within the framework of the “Argentina Week” event, aboard the official plane with President Javier Milei, but also accompanied by his wife, who does not hold any public office. Angeletti’s presence was detected from images of unofficial activities and later confirmed by the official himself, raising questions about the possible misuse of state resources and the contradiction with public ethics regulations that restrict the transfer of family members on official flights.
Adorni argued that his wife had purchased a ticket on her own—valued at more than $5,000—but that, due to changes in the agenda, she joined the official delegation, an explanation that failed to dispel political criticism or judicial complaints filed for alleged embezzlement of funds and abuse of authority.
Added to this episode was the dissemination of a video that shows him boarding a private flight with his family bound for Punta del Este, in Uruguay. The trip, valued at around $10,000, was also under judicial investigation to determine who financed the transfer, since the cost is not compatible with the official’s declared salary. Audiovisual producer Marcelo Grandio also participated in that flight, identified as a personal friend of Adorni and host of a program on public television, an area that is under the orbit of the Chief of Staff himself, which raised suspicions about possible conflicts of interest and undue benefits.
The succession of these events led to the opening of judicial investigations for alleged illicit enrichment and growing political pressure on the official. Although Adorni rejected the accusations and maintained that “everything is declared” or will be incorporated in future presentations, he avoided providing detailed details, arguing that doing so could interfere with pending cases.
In this context, the case was consolidated as one of the main sources of erosion of the Milei government, by putting the official discourse against the privileges of the “political caste” in tension in the face of practices that, according to the opposition and various media sectors, reproduce logics that the ruling party itself had promised to eradicate.
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