A federal judge has ordered the Department of Justice to turn over internal records tied to its decision to investigate and charge Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia, signaling growing judicial skepticism that senior DOJ leadership may have pushed the prosecution while publicly denying involvement.
The order, issued earlier this month by U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw and unsealed on Tuesday, requires prosecutors to produce documents related to the opening of a criminal investigation and the pursuit of charges stemming from a 2022 traffic stop. The investigation was launched earlier this year while Abrego Garcia was being held at El Salvador’s CECOT maximum-security prison.
Crenshaw’s ruling sets the stage for a high-stakes evidentiary hearing scheduled for Jan. 28 in Nashville, where the Trump administration will be required to rebut prior findings that the prosecution may have been vindictive. The judge canceled Abrego Garcia’s trial date pending the outcome of that hearing.
While stopping short of ordering testimony from senior officials, the judge highlighted internal emails that appear to contradict prosecutors’ repeated claims that the charging decision was made locally without outside pressure. Those emails suggest that Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and his office were closely looped in as the case progressed.
“These documents show that McGuire did not act alone,” Crenshaw wrote, referring to Robert E. McGuire, the acting U.S. attorney in Nashville. “The government’s documents may contradict its prior representations that the decision to prosecute was made locally and that there were no outside influences.”
In an April 30 email, Aakash Singh, a senior official in Blanche’s office, told prosecutors that charging Abrego Garcia was a “top priority” for DOJ leadership, according to page five of the unsealed order. McGuire responded that the office wanted the “high command looped in.” In another message weeks later, McGuire said he had heard “anecdotally” that Blanche and then-Principal Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove III wanted charges filed quickly.
Abrego Garcia’s attorneys argue the case was brought in retaliation for his success in a separate civil suit in Maryland challenging his deportation. Crenshaw previously ruled in October that Abrego Garcia had established a “reasonable likelihood” of vindictive prosecution, shifting the burden to the government to rebut that conclusion.
The DOJ has pushed back aggressively, asserting attorney-client and work-product privileges and denying any improper motive. Blanche’s office has dismissed claims that he played a leading role in the prosecution.
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The criminal case is unfolding alongside parallel immigration litigation. A Maryland judge on Dec. 11 ordered Abrego Garcia released from immigration custody and accused DOJ lawyers of misleading the court. That judge has temporarily barred his re-detention, though the administration has signaled it may attempt to rearrest him.
Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador earlier this year despite a 2019 withholding of removal order to his country of origin. This political and legal saga now threatens to expose the inner workings of DOJ decision-making at the highest levels.
