The Justice Department recently revealed that Kilmar Abrego Garcia subpoenaed Todd Blanche to testify at a hearing to decide whether he can dismiss his criminal case on the grounds of selective and vindictive prosecution.
In a Substack Live with Allison Gill earlier today, we discussed the government’s plan to try to quash Blanche’s subpoena, why Abrego’s legal team finds it warranted, and how it can all play out in a federal court in Tennessee next month. Abrego’s lead prosecutor cited precedent stating that top executive branch officials only can be made to testify under “extraordinary circumstances,” but the judge presiding over the case already found Blanche’s comments were anything but routine.
During that part of the conversation, Allison and I also puzzled over the Justice Department’s claim that California public officials may have put a “figurative” bounty on federal agents’ heads. On this topic, I quoted George Orwell’s observation: “Political language … is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
Watch the full video at the top of this newsletter.
