The Justice Department only pushed to prosecute Kelmar Abrego Garcia after a deportation error, the judge’s order says

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A newly unsealed order in the criminal case against Kelmar Abrego Garcia reveals that high-ranking Justice Department officials pushed for his indictment, calling it a “top priority,” only after he was wrongly deported and then ordered returned to the United States.

Abrego Garcia pleaded not guilty in federal court in Tennessee to human smuggling charges. He is seeking to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the claim is retaliatory — a method used by President Donald Trump’s administration to punish him for the embarrassment of his wrongful deportation.

Read more: Abrego Garcia could remain free while a judge considers arguments for returning him to immigration custody

To support this argument, he asked the government to turn over documents revealing how the decision was made to prosecute him in 2025 over an incident that occurred in 2022. On December 3, US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw filed a sealed order that forced the government to provide some documents to Abrego Garcia and his attorney. The matter was revealed on Tuesday and sheds new light on the case.

Earlier, Crenshaw found that there was “some evidence” that the prosecution of Abrego Garcia could be retaliatory. He specifically cited a statement by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on a Fox News show that seemed to suggest that the Justice Department charged Abrego Garcia because he won his wrongful deportation case.

Rob McGuire, who was acting U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee until late December, said those statements were irrelevant because he alone made the decision to prosecute and had no animosity against Abrego Garcia.

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In the newly unsealed order, Crenshaw wrote: “Not only do some documents indicate that McGuire was not a sole decision-maker, but that he actually informed others at the Department of Justice and the decision to prosecute Abrego may have been a joint decision.”

Justice Department officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The human smuggling charges stem from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee where Abrego Garcia was stopped for speeding. There were nine passengers in the car, and state forces discussed the possibility of human smuggling among themselves. However, he was eventually allowed to leave with only a warning. The case was turned over to Homeland Security Investigations, but there is no record of any attempt to charge him until April 2025, according to court records.

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The order doesn’t provide many details about what’s in the documents turned over to Abrego Garcia, but it does show that Akash Singh, who works under Blanche in the D.A.’s office, contacted McGuire about the Abrego Garcia case on April 27, the same day McGuire received a file on the case from Homeland Security Investigations. This came several days after the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of Abrego Garcia on April 10.

On April 30, Singh said in an email to McGuire that prosecution was a “top priority” for the DA’s office, according to the order. Singh and McGuire continued to communicate about the allegation. On May 15, McGuire sent an email to his staff that Blanche “would like to charge Garcia sooner rather than later,” Crenshaw wrote.

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On May 18, Singh wrote to McGuire and others to hold the draft indictment until they had “clearance” to file it. “The implication is that the ‘clearance’ will come from the Attorney General’s office,” Crenshaw writes.

A hearing on the motion to dismiss the case on the grounds of retaliatory prosecution is scheduled for January 28.