El Salvador President Bukele denies beating and torture of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in prison
In a post on the social media platform X, Bukele wrote that Abrego Garcia 'wasn't tortured, nor did he lose weight.' In the post, Bukele included pictures and video of Abrego Garcia in a detention cell.
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UPI
an hour ago
- UPI
Abrego Garcia accuses Trump admin. of vindictive prosecution
Thousands of people across more than 700 locations in the United States demonstrated against President Donald Trump on Saturday, April 19, protesting his administration's policies during the second "day of action" organized by the 50501 movement. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo Aug. 20 (UPI) -- Defense attorneys for Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who the Trump administration wrongly deported to El Salvador this spring and then brought human trafficking charges against him once he returned to the United States, are accusing the Justice Department of vindictively prosecuting their client. In a motion filed Tuesday, Abrego Garcia's defense is asking the court to dismiss the charges brought against the 30-year-old Salvadoran national is punishment for him standing up to the Trump administration. "Kilmar Abrego Garcia has been singled out by the United States government. It is obvious why. And it is not because of the seriousness of his alleged conduct. Nor is it because he poses some unique threat to this country. Instead, Mr. Abrego was charged because he refused to acquiesce in the government's violation of his due process rights," Abrego Garcia's lawyers said in the motion. Abrego Garcia, a resident of Maryland who is married to a U.S. citizen, was arrested amid the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration as part of its mass deportation plans. Despite a court order prohibiting his removal, he was deported to El Salvador in March and incarcerated in the notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, where he said he was subjected to torture. Abrego Garcia then challenged his removal in court, prompting the Trump administration to try and label him a gang member in public, while admitting in court it wrongly deported the immigrant. He was returned to the United States in June, but only after he was charged with human smuggling by the Justice Department. In the filing, his lawyers accused the Trump administration of conducting "a public campaign to punish Mr. Abrego for daring to fight back, culminating in the criminal investigation that led to the charges in this case." His lawyers point to comments from senior Trump administration officials, as well as President Donald Trump, calling him a criminal following his win in court that secured his return to the United States but before he was charged as proof of the White House's vindictiveness. "The government's motive has been to paint Mr. Abrego as a criminal in order to punish him for challenging his removal, to avoid the embarrassment of accepting responsibility for its unlawful conduct and to shift public opinion around Mr. Abrego's removal, including 'mounting concerns' with the government's compliance with court orders," they said in the filing. The Justice Department's case against Abrego Garcia stems from a November 2022 traffic stop in Putnam County, Tenn. Nine passengers were in the vehicle with him when stopped, but he was allowed to continue on his way, not even receiving a traffic ticket. The government alleges he was the driver in a human smuggling conspiracy, and his defense argues that the Trump administration "has gone to extreme lengths" to make its criminal case. His lawyers in the filing state that they have tried to secure the cooperation of multiple alleged conspirators who have already been sentenced to testify against Abrego Garcia, with its so-called star witness being a convicted leader of a human smuggling business with three felony convictions and who has been deported from the United States five times. According to the filing, the Justice Department arranged for this alleged co-conspirator to be released early from a 30-month sentence to a halfway house to cooperate against Abrego Garcia, while relatives or those in relationship with this person also appear to be provided with "similar benefits" for providing corroborating testimony. In the filing Tuesday, Abrego Garcia's lawyers argue that nothing had changed in the three years since the traffic stop, except for the government wrongly deporting him to El Salvador and that he challenged his deportation. "As a matter of timing, it is clear that it was that lawsuit -- and its effects on the government -- that prompted the government to re-evaluate the 2022 traffic stop and bring this case," the filing states. "[N]o similarly situated defendant -- an alleged driver in an alien smuggling conspiracy -- has ever had to wait two and a half years to be charged with a crime where the facts had not changed since the stop itself." His defense alleges that the only explanation for the timing of the charges is that the government has chosen to punish him for fighting his deportation. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty.
CNN
7 hours ago
- CNN
Abrego Garcia's lawyers urge judge to drop his criminal case, alleging ‘vindictive and selective prosecution'
Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia are asking the federal judge overseeing his criminal case to throw out the human smuggling charges he's facing, alleging the Justice Department singled him out for prosecution after he challenged his wrongful deportation to El Salvador earlier this year. The request made Tuesday to US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Nashville comes several days before Abrego Garcia is expected to be released from criminal custody pending his trial on the federal charges. The 35-page filing to Crenshaw accuses President Donald Trump's Justice Department of prosecuting the criminal case as retribution for Abrego Garcia's protracted legal fight against the government's deportation of him in mid-March. The Maryland father of three was wrongly deported in violation of an earlier court order that expressly forbade his removal to El Salvador. 'Mr. Abrego responded to the government's shocking, illegal conduct by filing a lawsuit. Rather than fix its mistake and return Mr. Abrego to the United States, the government fought back at every level of the federal court system,' his attorneys wrote in the filing. 'And at every level, Mr. Abrego won. This case results from the government's concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back, rather than accept a brutal injustice.' The lawyers are asking Crenshaw, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, to throw out the two criminal counts brought against him earlier this year based on their assertion that he's the subject of 'selective or vindictive prosecution.' 'Those motions are infrequently made and rarely succeed. But if there has ever been a case for dismissal on those grounds, this is that case. The government is attempting to use this case – and this Court – to punish Mr. Abrego for successfully fighting his unlawful removal. That is a constitutional violation of the most basic sort,' they wrote in court papers. 'The Indictment must be dismissed.' The filing points to statements made by various administration officials – from Trump to Attorney General Pam Bondi – to make the case that his prosecution is intended to justify 'officials' false claims that deporting him to El Salvador had been the right thing to do.' And it points out that the traffic stop that is at the center of the government's case against him occurred years earlier – a fact his lawyers claim 'is sufficient to establish discriminatory effect.' 'In total, it took the government 903 days after the traffic stop in this case – on November 30, 2022 – to obtain an indictment on May 21, 2025,' they wrote, adding that they couldn't find any similar case within the federal circuit that hears appeals arising from Tennessee and several other states. Abrego Garcia's trial is set to begin in January 2026. Last month, Crenshaw declined to undo a separate judge's decision to let Abrego Garcia remain free while he awaits trial. But he's remained behind bars after the magistrate judge in his case paused her release order for a month. That pause is expected to end later this week. Meanwhile, the federal judge in Maryland overseeing the case Abrego Garica and his family brought against officials to secure his return to the US from El Salvador has barred the administration from quickly deporting him again once he's released from criminal custody. That ruling from US District Judge Paula Xinis, also an Obama appointee, is meant to do two things: Restore Abrego Garcia to the immigration position he was in before his deportation in mid-March and ensure his due process rights aren't violated again should officials try to remove him from the US a second time.
CNN
7 hours ago
- CNN
Abrego Garcia's lawyers urge judge to drop his criminal case, alleging ‘vindictive and selective prosecution'
Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia are asking the federal judge overseeing his criminal case to throw out the human smuggling charges he's facing, alleging the Justice Department singled him out for prosecution after he challenged his wrongful deportation to El Salvador earlier this year. The request made Tuesday to US District Judge Waverly Crenshaw in Nashville comes several days before Abrego Garcia is expected to be released from criminal custody pending his trial on the federal charges. The 35-page filing to Crenshaw accuses President Donald Trump's Justice Department of prosecuting the criminal case as retribution for Abrego Garcia's protracted legal fight against the government's deportation of him in mid-March. The Maryland father of three was wrongly deported in violation of an earlier court order that expressly forbade his removal to El Salvador. 'Mr. Abrego responded to the government's shocking, illegal conduct by filing a lawsuit. Rather than fix its mistake and return Mr. Abrego to the United States, the government fought back at every level of the federal court system,' his attorneys wrote in the filing. 'And at every level, Mr. Abrego won. This case results from the government's concerted effort to punish him for having the audacity to fight back, rather than accept a brutal injustice.' The lawyers are asking Crenshaw, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, to throw out the two criminal counts brought against him earlier this year based on their assertion that he's the subject of 'selective or vindictive prosecution.' 'Those motions are infrequently made and rarely succeed. But if there has ever been a case for dismissal on those grounds, this is that case. The government is attempting to use this case – and this Court – to punish Mr. Abrego for successfully fighting his unlawful removal. That is a constitutional violation of the most basic sort,' they wrote in court papers. 'The Indictment must be dismissed.' The filing points to statements made by various administration officials – from Trump to Attorney General Pam Bondi – to make the case that his prosecution is intended to justify 'officials' false claims that deporting him to El Salvador had been the right thing to do.' And it points out that the traffic stop that is at the center of the government's case against him occurred years earlier – a fact his lawyers claim 'is sufficient to establish discriminatory effect.' 'In total, it took the government 903 days after the traffic stop in this case – on November 30, 2022 – to obtain an indictment on May 21, 2025,' they wrote, adding that they couldn't find any similar case within the federal circuit that hears appeals arising from Tennessee and several other states. Abrego Garcia's trial is set to begin in January 2026. Last month, Crenshaw declined to undo a separate judge's decision to let Abrego Garcia remain free while he awaits trial. But he's remained behind bars after the magistrate judge in his case paused her release order for a month. That pause is expected to end later this week. Meanwhile, the federal judge in Maryland overseeing the case Abrego Garica and his family brought against officials to secure his return to the US from El Salvador has barred the administration from quickly deporting him again once he's released from criminal custody. That ruling from US District Judge Paula Xinis, also an Obama appointee, is meant to do two things: Restore Abrego Garcia to the immigration position he was in before his deportation in mid-March and ensure his due process rights aren't violated again should officials try to remove him from the US a second time.
