A former federal prosecutor flagged a startling fact on Tuesday that could doom President Donald Trump’s high-profile prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man whose wrongful deportation to El Salvador became one of the most prominent immigration cases in the country.
Glenn Kirschner, a former assistant U.S. Attorney in Washington, D.C., said during a new episode of his podcast “Justice Matters” that the Trump administration’s prosecution of Abrego Garcia could be doomed because the administration has treated him differently than others in similar situations.
Kirschner noted that the Trump administration has sought to deport Abrego Garcia to Liberia for several months, even though, in Kirschner’s legal analysis, the administration has only sent Liberians convicted of crimes back to the country.
“So, the fact that we have only sent Liberians back to Liberia after they’ve been convicted of crimes, after they’ve served their sentences, and we’re now just wanting to send Abrego Garcia there, even though he’s been convicted of no crime, that to me bolsters the argument for vindictiveness,” Kirschner said.
The charges against Abrego Garcia stem from a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop where he was pulled over for speeding, found to have nine passengers in the car, and ultimately let go with only a warning. No charges were filed at the time. The case was not pursued until after Abrego Garcia was wrongfully deported to El Salvador, and a Supreme Court ruling forced the Trump administration to bring him back to the United States.
Kirschner also noted that two federal judges — Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Tennessee, handling the criminal case, and Judge Paula Xinis in Maryland, handling the civil immigration case — are currently weighing whether the Trump administration vindictively or selectively prosecuted Abrego Garcia. Crenshaw has already found some evidence that the prosecution “may be vindictive” and that there is a “realistic likelihood of vindictiveness.”
“You’re certainly treating him selectively and differently than others who have been deported to Liberia,” Kirschner said. “So, all of that, I think, makes a pretty strong case for vindictive prosecution or vindictive court proceedings by the Trump administration.”
The Department of Justice has maintained that the prosecution is legitimate, arguing in a 24-page filing that “any narrative of animus has been affirmatively disproven by the Government’s undisputed evidence.”
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