DOJ’s second-in-command could be central to ‘vindictive’ prosecution of Abrego Garcia, judge rules

By Fox News · Fox News

A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to produce documents related to its decision to investigate and bring criminal charges against Salvadoran migrant Kilmar Abrego Garcia while he was detained at a maximum-security prison in El Salvador earlier this year – signaling what is sure to be an action-packed evidentiary hearing in Nashville next month. The order, filed by U.S. Judge Waverly Crenshaw earlier this month and released to the public Tuesday afternoon, requires the Justice Department to produce all relevant documents to defense lawyers pertaining to its decision earlier this year to open an investigation and seek criminal charges against Abrego Garcia for conduct stemming from a 2022 traffic stop. ABREGO GARCIA REMAINS IN US FOR NOW AS JUDGE TAKES CASE UNDER ADVISEMENT The Justice Department opened the criminal investigation and presented the case to a grand jury earlier this year, when Abrego Garcia was detained at CECOT, and at the same time as lawyers for the Trump administration officials were telling a separate federal judge in Maryland that they were powerless to bring him back from Salvadoran custody. The new order stops short of compelling any government witnesses to testify for next month's hearing, including testimony from Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, whose remarks – for months – have been at the center of the vindictive prosecution effort pursued by Abrego Garcia's defense team in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia's attorneys have argued Blanche played "a leading role" in the decision to prosecute him, a notion Blanche's office has vehemently dismissed. They had also honed in on the involvement of Blanche's associate, Aakash Singh. "The cornerstone of Abrego’s motion to dismiss is that the decision to prosecute him was in retaliation for his success in the Maryland District Court," Crenshaw said in the newly unsealed ruling. "Indeed, at the time of Abrego’s arrest, Blanche linked Abrego’s criminal charges to his successful civil lawsuit…