'Stunningly vindictive': Abrego's lawyers battle government 'stonewall'

Kilmar Abrego Garcia's evidentiary hearing to dismiss his criminal case is scheduled for Jan. 28.

Abrego surrenders to immigration detention on Aug. 25. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s attorneys told a federal judge on Thursday that the government “reneged” on a promise to hand over evidence required to cross-examine witnesses at an upcoming hearing that could lead to the case’s dismissal.

“In an ordinary case, the government would be trusted to comply with its agreement, and there would be no need for the parties to burden the Court,” attorney Sean Hecker wrote in a 24-page motion. “Regrettably, the government has reneged, refusing to provide witness material and stonewalling on producing a privilege log of materials provided to the Court, to say nothing of internal communications of the Office of the Deputy Attorney General and other Executive Branch communications that may or may not have been sought or collected but not produced even to the Court.”

‘Dig the hole deeper’

Since winning his freedom from immigration detention, Abrego has been trying to dismiss his pending criminal case through a motion for vindictive prosecution, calling his smuggling charges payback for fighting back against his illegal removal from Maryland to El Salvador last year.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw found that Abrego’s defense team supported that claim enough to warrant an evidentiary hearing on the issue, and the judge delayed that hearing twice to give the government more time to turn over evidence to the defense.

With the final court date set for Jan. 28, Abrego’s lawyers reported that the “stonewalling” has not stopped.

“The government’s unrelenting effort to impede an objective inquiry into the motives behind this prosecution only confirms that it is unwilling and unable to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness that has already attached,” they wrote.

Abrego’s lawyers urged the judge to assume the government recognizes that disclosing the evidence “will only dig the hole deeper.”

“If there were any communications or documents that helped the government prove its narrative that this case was not motivated by vindictiveness, the government would no doubt have produced them,” the motion states. “The Court should draw the obvious inference that flows from the government’s stonewalling: the presumption of vindictiveness is warranted and unrebutted, and this case must be dismissed.”

‘Stunningly vindictive’

By granting an evidentiary hearing, Judge Crenshaw shifted the burden of proof to the government to overcome the presumption that Abrego’s prosecution was brought for vindictive reasons.

He based his ruling in large part on Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche’s remarks in a televised interview that Abrego’s criminal investigation started when a federal judge “questioned” the government’s actions.

Abrego’s lawyers have argued that the judge “can take the government’s stonewalling as further evidence of the stunningly vindictive nature of this prosecution.”

In December, Crenshaw unsealed internal Justice Department communications showing that Blanche’s top aide called Abrego’s prosecution a “top priority” exactly 20 days after the Supreme Court ordered the government to facilitate his release from El Salvador’s terrorism prison.

The Middle District of Tennessee’s Acting U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire had claimed to have brought the case without Main Justice’s involvement, but the unsealed communications undermined that position.

Three days before Abrego’s indictment, Blanche’s aide Aakash Singh instructed McGuire to hold the draft of the document for “clearance,” presumably from the Deputy Attorney General’s office. Crenshaw said the documents confirm that “McGuire did not act alone.”

Read the 24-page filing in full here.

All Rise News plans to report live in court for Abrego’s evidentiary hearing scheduled to take place on Jan. 28 in Nashville, Tenn.. If you are not already a subscriber, stay tuned for updates and support this on-the-ground reporting through a paid subscription.