Trump's remarks could come back to bite him in Abrego Garcia deportation battle

Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia urged a Maryland judge Monday to cull the Trump administration’s bid to withhold accusation nether nationalist information claims, arguing elder officials, including President Donald Trump, person already compromised immoderate imaginable harm.

In a caller tribunal filing, attorneys for Abrego Garcia argued that Trump and apical officials person publically opposed his instrumentality from a Salvadoran situation – contempt tribunal orders – citing remarks successful testimony, interviews and connected societal media. The contradictions could measurement heavy Friday, erstwhile a national justice considers adjacent steps successful the high-profile case.

"Plaintiffs person sought find to uncover the information arsenic to the Government's efforts (or deficiency thereof) arsenic good arsenic its abilities to facilitate Abrego Garcia's instrumentality – the indispensable contented successful this case. Over and over, the Government has stonewalled Plaintiffs by asserting unsupported privileges – chiefly authorities secrets and deliberative process – to withhold written find and to instruct witnesses not to reply adjacent basal questions," lawyers for Abrego Garcia told U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, who ordered his instrumentality to the U.S. past month.

"Even arsenic the Government speaks freely astir Abrego Garcia successful public, successful this litigation it insists connected secrecy," they added.

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President Donald Trump speaks to reporters connected the southbound tract of the White House connected May 4, 2025. (Tasos Katopodis/Getty Images)

Their filing comes 1 period aft the Supreme Court ordered the Trump medication to "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's instrumentality to the U.S., upholding the orders of the little tribunal judge.

Since then, the authorities and Abrego Garcia's attorneys person sparred successful tribunal implicit what precisely it means to "facilitate" his return. Trump officials person alleged Abrego Garcia is simply a subordinate of the MS-13 gang, though immoderate ceremonial ties person not been proven. 

Xinis ordered expedited find successful April to find whether the medication was complying with her directive to instrumentality Abrego Garcia to the U.S. On Tuesday, she besides ordered the Trump medication to taxable a antecedently requested privilege log related to its invocation of the authorities secrets privilege.

She gave the medication until 3 p.m. Tuesday to comply, informing that nonaccomplishment to record the log – oregon different respond – would beryllium considered an "intentional refusal" to travel the court's orders.

Last week, the Trump medication appears to person invoked some the authorities secrets and deliberative process privileges, according to a tribunal bid from Xinis. The bid granted some parties an other week to taxable caller filings connected the asserted claims.

The authorities secrets privilege is simply a nationalist information instrumentality that allows the authorities to withhold definite accusation from the courts, truthful agelong arsenic it tin beryllium a "reasonable danger" to nationalist information and overseas affairs arsenic a effect of the accusation being made public. 

Lawyers for Abrego Garcia told the tribunal that the administration's assertion of authorities secrets privileges is conscionable different effort by elder Trump medication officials to "stonewall" the instrumentality of their client, who was deported successful March owed to what medication officials acknowledged was an administrative error. 

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More than 250 suspected pack members get successful San Salvador, El Salvador connected March 16, 2025. (El Salvador Presidency/Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Abrego Garcia's attorneys connected Monday pointed to nationalist remarks made by Attorney General Pam Bondi, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem and President Donald Trump stating they bash not program to instrumentality Abrego Garcia. These statements, they said, undercut immoderate invocations of privilege successful court. 

"Over and implicit again, authoritative statements by the Government – successful legislature testimony, tv interviews and societal media – corroborate that producing this accusation would not imperil nationalist security," lawyers for Abrego Garcia told Judge Xinis connected Monday, urging her to see the administration's determination to invoke authorities secrets privilege with a cautious and "skeptical" eye. 

"On its face, determination is small crushed to judge that compliance with a tribunal bid to facilitate the merchandise and instrumentality of a azygous mistakenly removed idiosyncratic truthful that helium tin get his time successful tribunal implicates authorities secrets astatine all," they said.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, told the tribunal that it had already provided Abrego Garcia's attorneys with "robust" responses to find requests ordered by Judge Xinis past month, noting Monday that granting the caller requests for further accusation oregon supplemental documents "would not beforehand immoderate morganatic extremity of expedited discovery." 

This isn't the archetypal clip the Trump medication has attempted to usage state secrets privileges to shield against sharing definite accusation successful court. 

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U.S. District Judge James E. Boasberg  stands for a representation astatine E. Barrett Prettyman Federal Courthouse successful Washington, D.C., connected March 16, 2023. (Carolyn Van Houten/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

In March, the Trump medication told U.S. District Judge James Boasberg it was invoking the authorities secrets privilege successful a lawsuit challenging its aboriginal deportations nether the Alien Enemies Act, aft repeatedly refusing to supply the tribunal details astir those flights.

Administration lawyers declined to disclose however galore individuals were deported "solely connected the basis" of the act, wherever the planes landed, what clip they departed, and from which locations, citing nationalist information concerns. (The lawsuit is present pending earlier the Supreme Court.)

It’s not the archetypal clip comments from elder Cabinet officials person intensified scrutiny of the government’s ineligible arguments.

Last week, Boasberg pressed Justice Department attorneys successful a related lawsuit brought by a broader people of plaintiffs, citing nationalist remarks by Trump and Noem astir CECOT – the maximum-security situation successful El Salvador wherever the U.S. has deported hundreds of migrants. He besides questioned DOJ lawyers astir the White House’s relation successful securing captive releases.

"Is the president not telling the truth?" Boasberg asked Justice Department lawyer Abhishek Kambli during the hearing. "Or could helium unafraid his release?" 

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On Monday, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers argued there’s small grounds to warrant the Trump administration’s usage of the privilege, noting nary subject oregon quality operations are astatine issue. They wrote it "defies crushed to ideate that the United States’ narration with El Salvador would beryllium endangered by immoderate effort to question the instrumentality of a wrongfully deported idiosyncratic who the Government admits ne'er should person been removed to El Salvador successful the archetypal place."

Xinis volition perceive from some sides astatine a presumption league scheduled for Friday day successful Greenbelt, Maryland.