在基尔马·阿布雷戈·加西亚的刑事案件中，一份新公布的命令显示，在他被错误驱逐后不久，司法部的一名高级官员称对他的起诉为“头等大事”一名联邦法官表示，这可能与特朗普政府声称起诉阿布雷戈·加西亚的决定是由当地检察官做出的说法相矛盾。
被驱逐到萨尔瓦多后，阿布雷戈·加西亚后来被带回美国，并在田纳西州被起诉关于人口走私的联邦指控.
阿布雷戈·加西亚本月早些时候从移民拘留所被释放，他正在寻求撤销刑事案件，声称他是选择性和报复性起诉的受害者。
负责田纳西走私案的美国地方法官韦弗利·克伦肖，已经安排了下个月的听证会。
在未密封的命令中，克伦肖法官表示，政府提供的一些文件“表明”，在办公室决定对阿布雷戈·加西亚提出人口走私指控的过程中，田纳西州的检察官“不是唯一的决策者”。
克伦肖说，这些文件显示，美国代理检察官罗伯特·麦奎尔“向DOJ的其他人报告，起诉阿布雷戈·加西亚的决定可能是一个共同决定，其他人可能有也可能没有不正当的动机。”
法官命令政府将文件交给阿布雷戈·加西亚的律师审查。
“法院承认政府的特权主张，但阿布雷戈的非报复性起诉的正当程序权利超过了政府声称的一揽子证据特权，”克伦肖法官说。
联邦法官表示，这些文件可能与政府的论点相矛盾，即起诉阿布雷戈·加西亚的决定“是当地做出的，没有外部影响”
未公开的命令中提到了几封涉及副司法部长Aakash Singh的电子邮件，其中一封邮件中，DOJ最高官员“明确”表示，对阿布雷戈·加西亚的刑事起诉是该部门的“重中之重”。
这些邮件是在4月份发出的——一个月后，阿布雷戈加西亚，谁一直住在马里兰州与他的妻子和孩子驱逐出境尽管2019年法院命令禁止将他转移到该国，但他仍被转移到萨尔瓦多的CECOT大型监狱。
特朗普政府声称他是犯罪团伙MS-13的成员，阿布雷戈·加西亚对此予以否认。
随后发生了一系列法庭斗争，特朗普政府一再表示无法让他回来，后来最高法院一致裁定政府必须这样做促成他的回归.
阿布雷戈·加西亚的律师认为，政府是在利用这起刑事案件来惩罚他们的委托人“成功地对抗了他的非法驱逐”
上周，法官推迟了原定于下月进行的刑事审判。
本月早些时候，马里兰州的另一名联邦法官下令释放阿布雷戈·加西亚他被关押在移民拘留所自八月以来，后来又阻挠移民和海关执法不再拘留他整个圣诞假期。
Judge says documents suggest top DOJ officials may have pushed to prosecute Kilmar Abrego Garcia after wrongful deportation
A newly unsealed order in Kilmar Abrego Garcia's criminal case reveals that a top Department of Justice official called his prosecution "a top priority" shortly after he was mistakenly deported-- potentially contradicting the Trump administration's claims that the decision to prosecute Abrego Garcia was made by local prosecutors, a federal judge said.
After being deported to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was later brought back to the U.S. and indicted in Tennesseeon federal charges of human smuggling.
Abrego Garcia was released from immigration custody earlier this month, and is seeking to have the criminal case dismissed, claiming he is the victim of selective and vindictive prosecution.
U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who is overseeing the Tennessee smuggling case,has scheduled a hearing on the issue next month.
In the unsealed order, Judge Crenshaw said that some of the documents produced by the government "suggest" that the prosecutor in Tennessee "was not a solitary decision-maker" in the office's decision to bring human smuggling charges against Abrego Garcia.
The documents, Crenshaw said, show that Acting U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire "reported to others in DOJ and the decision to prosecute Abrego [Garcia] may have been a joint decision, with others who may or may not have acted with an improper motivation."
The judge ordered the government to turn the documents over to Abrego Garcia's lawyers for review.
"The Court recognizes the government's assertion of privileges, but Abrego's due process right to a non-vindictive prosecution outweighs the blanket evidentiary privileges asserted by the government," Judge Crenshaw said.
The federal judge said the documents may contradict the government's argument that the decision to prosecute Abrego Garcia "was made locally and that there were no outside influences."
Several emails involving Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh were referenced in the unsealed order, including one in which the top DOJ official "made clear" that Abrego Garcia's criminal prosecution was a "top priority" for the department.
The emails were sent in April-- one month after Abrego Garcia, who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children, wasdeportedto El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison, despite a 2019 court order barring his removal to that country.
The Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which Abrego Garcia denies.
A series of court battles ensued, in which the Trump administration repeatedly said it was unable to bring him back, before the Supreme Court ruled unanimously the government was required tofacilitate his return.
Abrego Garcia's attorneys have argued that the government is using the criminal case to punish their client for "successfully fighting his unlawful removal."
Last week, the judge postponed the criminal trial that was scheduled for next month.
Earlier this month, another federal judge in Marylandordered Abrego Garcia releasedfrom immigration detention, where he had been heldsince August, and later blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcementfrom re-detaining himthrough the Christmas holiday.
