Abrego Garcia’s lawyers ask the judge to abandon the hearing and dismiss the case

Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked a federal judge in Nashville to dismiss his criminal case entirely, arguing in a new filing Thursday that the Trump administration failed to provide necessary evidence or allow testimony from key witnesses during a two-day evidentiary hearing next week.

U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw scheduled the next hearing to evaluate Abrego Garcia’s request to have his criminal case dismissed on the grounds of “vindictive” and selective prosecution by the government.

Crenshaw governed Earlier this month, Abrego Garcia established a “realistic probability” of revenge in his criminal case, initiated by the Justice Department while he was detained in El Salvador earlier this year.

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Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, stands with protesters as they rally in support of Abrego Garcia in front of the federal court during a hearing in Greenbelt, Maryland. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty)

Abrego Garcia’s lawyers note In Thursday’s filing, after a judge finds a “realistic likelihood” of retaliation in a case — as Crenshaw did earlier this month — a rebuttable presumption arises for the government, which then bears the burden of providing “objective and official explanations” to show that the case was not brought for retaliation.

If the government fails to do so, the indictment should be dismissed altogether, his lawyers said, arguing that the Trump administration obstructed them by refusing to allow witnesses to testify or provide relevant information.

It is unclear how or when Crenshaw will rule on the motion to dismiss or whether he would choose to cancel next week’s hearing in light of the Trump administration’s allegedly unclear arguments.

More information could be revealed Friday afternoon, after attorneys for all sides participate in an attorneys-only conference hosted by the judge.

Yet the request comes as Abrego Garcia’s criminal and civil cases have become a major flashpoint in the Trump administration’s broader immigration crackdown.

Justice Department officials told another federal judge in Maryland on Monday that they do not intend to allow Abrego Garcia to remain in the United States to stand trial in Tennessee. Instead, they said they would seek to deport him as quickly as possible to a third country, possibly Liberia.

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As prisoners watch from a cell, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem speaks during a tour of the terrorist containment center March 26, 2025, in Tecoluca, El Salvador. (Alex Brandon-Pool/Getty Images)

Trump administration lawyers also told the same federal judge in Maryland earlier this month that they had identified three African countries — Uganda, Ghana and Eswatini — as appropriate third countries to deport Abrego Garcia, pending the dissolution of an earlier court order keeping him in the United States. They have since changed the country of deportation to Liberia, administration lawyers said Monday.

It is unclear whether Liberia has agreed to accept Abrego Garcia.

Separately, Crenshaw had ordered an additional discovery and two-day evidentiary hearing so that Trump officials could rebut claims of vindictive and selective prosecution and demonstrate that they did so. not act with real animosity in filing criminal charges against Abrego Garcia.

A federal grand jury indicted Abrego Garcia in May on two counts related to immigrant smuggling, stemming from a 2022 traffic stop.

Although Judge Crenshaw appeared skeptical of the government’s timeline and previous assertions, it’s unclear whether he would go so far as to grant Abrego Garcia’s attempt to drop the criminal case altogether — at least for now.

In the new filing, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers argued that the Trump administration failed to comply with its discovery obligations despite the court order weeks earlier and that they even identified categories of documents they planned to produce for next week’s hearing.

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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi speaks alongside President Donald Trump during a White House press briefing in this photo from 2025. Bondi’s remarks have at times put her in an awkward situation and deviate from the message of the administration itself. (Getty Images)

Justice Department lawyers asked Judge Crenshaw earlier this week to review certain categories of evidence privately or behind closed doors before deciding which documents the government should turn over to Abrego Garcia’s legal team for review next week.

Those actions were the basis of Thursday’s new motion to dismiss the criminal indictment outright.

“Although the defense does not bring any charges at the evidentiary hearing as long as the presumption remains unrebutted – and we believe it will continue to be so given the limited evidence the government is apparently prepared to offer – the defense has the right to cross-examine the government’s witnesses, which requires the timely production of documents to the defense prior to the hearing,” Abrego Garcia’s attorneys said in their filing.

They also noted the government’s current attempt to quash subpoenas for two senior Trump administration officials to testify next week, including the Justice Department’s second-highest official, Todd Blanche.

Crenshaw’s decision earlier this month named Blanche directly multiple times, which could pose a significant hurdle for the Trump administration as it seeks to quash her subpoena.

Still, the road ahead will likely be difficult for both defense attorneys and the Justice Department.

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U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Secretary of State Marco Rubio attend President Donald Trump’s meeting with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele in the Oval Office of the White House in April 2025. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

It is notoriously difficult have been dismissed on grounds of selective or vindictive prosecution, and few attempts have reached the discovery phase, meaning the outcome of Abrego Garcia’s case is far from clear.

Existing precedent requires a defendant to prove both that prosecutors acted with genuine animosity in bringing the case and that prosecutors singled out the defendant because of that animosity.

Selective prosecutions require the defense to prove that people “similarly situated” were not prosecuted.

Trump officials, for their part, have denounced “activist” judges who they say are blocking their agenda and encroaching on the president’s executive authorities.

Earlier this week, Judge Crenshaw ordered the Justice Department to provide the court with communications regarding the government’s decision to pursue the criminal case against Abrego Garcia and the “factual circumstances” that prompted the government’s change in position.

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He also reprimanded DHS Secretary Kristi Noem and Attorney General Pam Bondi for not limiting their comments on Abrego Garcia’s ongoing criminal case in Tennessee, a violation of local court rules, and ordered prosecutors to notify all Justice Department and DHS employees to avoid future public remarks.

“Government employees have made out-of-court statements that are troubling, particularly when many of them are exaggerated or even simply inaccurate,” Judge Crenshaw said Monday.