{"id":105,"date":"2026-05-28T11:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=105"},"modified":"2026-05-28T11:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T11:09:15","slug":"trumps-first-big-vindictive-prosecution-just-went-up-in-smoke","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/homemovechronicle.com\/?p=105","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s First Big Vindictive Prosecution Just Went Up in Smoke"},"content":{"rendered":"
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This is <\/em>Executive Dysfunction<\/em>, a newsletter that highlights one under-the-radar story about how Trump is changing the law\u2014or how the law is pushing back\u2014and keeps you posted on the latest from Slate\u2019s Jurisprudence team. <\/em>Click here<\/em> to receive it in your inbox each week.<\/em><\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s Floundering in Iran Is Great News for China and Russia<\/a><\/p>\n

The Trump administration has spent the past year doggedly targeting a Maryland father named Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who gained fame after the Justice Department admitted to mistakenly sending him to El Salvador\u2019s CECOT megaprison last spring. The Supreme Court demanded the administration return Abrego Garcia to the United States, and Donald Trump complied after initial reluctance that verged on a constitutional crisis. Ever since, Trump\u2019s government has sought to make an example of Abrego Garcia to demonstrate, both by seeking to deport him again and by cooking up a highly dubious indictment, that defying this president will result only in further recriminations. Abrego Garcia\u2019s story, which has become emblematic of the unleashed retribution of the president\u2019s second term, finally took a happy turn last week, after the judge in that prosecution acknowledged what was obvious for all to see: Abrego Garcia had been targeted not based on any crime, but for having stood up to the president and having sought to push back against Trump\u2019s horrifying deportation program.<\/p>\n

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After analyzing the DOJ\u2019s bad-faith efforts over the course of the past 12 months, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw called out the government\u2019s motive in no uncertain terms. In a rare move, Crenshaw dismissed the criminal indictment after declaring the prosecution against Abrego Garcia a blatantly tainted investigation \u201cwith a vindictive motive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Successfully proving selective prosecution is notoriously difficult\u2014judges rarely grant it. So when it came to Abrego Garcia\u2019s case, Crenshaw, an Obama appointee, spared no detail, meticulously going through the timeline of events that had led to the indictment, starting with a 2022 traffic stop at the heart of the case, when Abrego Garcia was questioned by Tennessee police for suspected human smuggling. The incident was referred to the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, but ultimately the agencies had declined to prosecute. However, in 2025, the DOJ was suddenly interested in this traffic stop at the very same time it was embroiled in a nasty legal battle over returning Abrego Garcia to the U.S.; this followed his filing of a civil lawsuit challenging his deportation to CECOT, which had happened despite a court order demanding he be allowed to stay in the country.<\/p>\n

Abrego Garcia\u2019s story became a political flash point, with U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen traveling to El Salvador to visit the Maryland resident and press for his release. Just this month, FBI Director Kash Patel, in an attempt to defend himself against charges of alcohol abuse, attacked Van Hollen for that visit, telling the senator, \u201cThe only person that was slinging margaritas in El Salvador on the taxpayer dollar with a convicted gangbanging rapist was you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crenshaw thoroughly debunked the administration\u2019s ongoing narrative about Abrego Garcia. \u201cThe objective evidence here shows that, absent Abrego\u2019s successful lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the Government would not have brought this prosecution,\u201d . Crenshaw explained that nothing had prevented the government from looking into Abrego Garcia\u2019s 2022 traffic stop if it had legitimate concerns about criminal activity; instead, he noted, the incident was used as a legal weapon to fight against Abrego Garcia\u2019s lawsuit and keep him out of the U.S. This targeting went all the way to the top of the DOJ. Crenshaw revealed that a deputy for acting Attorney General Todd Blanche had been in close contact with the Homeland Security Investigations agent leading the indictment against Abrego Garcia; the two communicated at numerous points in the lead-up to the indictment with investigation updates. Ultimately, Crenshaw lay the blame with Blanche, who, instead of earnestly investigating the 2022 traffic stop, \u201cstarted the investigation to implicate Abrego. He did so to justify the Executive Branch\u2019s decision to remove him to El Salvador.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crenshaw went on to mention Blanche\u2019s name nearly 30 times in his 32-page opinion, citing public statements in which Blanche outright admits that the executive branch began \u201cinvestigating\u201d Abrego Garcia after the judge overseeing his civil lawsuit \u201cquestioned\u201d the executive branch\u2019s decision to deport him. This all led to Crenshaw deciding to dismiss the indictment against Abrego Garcia, finding that the reopening of his 2022 traffic stop, tied with Blanche\u2019s public statements, \u201ctaints the investigation with a vindictive motive.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, Crenshaw found enough evidence only to declare that the DOJ had acted with \u201cpresumptive vindictiveness,\u201d not \u201cactual vindictiveness,\u201d the latter of which is a rarely met standard that typically requires a prosecutor to admit that charges were brought specifically in retaliation against a person.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was not surprised,\u201d Kristy Parker, a former federal prosecutor at the DOJ and now special counsel at Protect Democracy, told me of Crenshaw\u2019s opinion. Based on the evidence and arguments the federal government put forward in this case, Parker believes that he made the right call. \u201cI think the judge identified what lots of people could see from Day 1, and put the government on notice that Hey, what I\u2019m seeing here looks sketchy and vindictive, so you\u2019re going to have to come in here and show me how that\u2019s not so<\/em>,\u201d Parker said. \u201cObviously, he concluded that they had not met that burden.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abrego Garcia\u2019s case is perhaps one of the most emblematic of the administration\u2019s vindictive nature. For Trump, refusing to accept defeat and hell-bent on punishing anyone who stands up to the president\u2019s mass-deportation machine, this case was seen as critical in upholding his agenda, even though it started offas a mistake<\/em>, nearly costing Abrego Garcia his life as he was thrust into a foreign prison, where he experienced \u201csevere beatings,\u201d sleep deprivation, malnutrition, and other forms of torture. The administration\u2019s stubbornness in this instance eventually pushed the question of Abrego Garcia\u2019s deportation to the Supreme Court, when the justices upheld an order that required the government to facilitate his return to the U.S.<\/p>\n

Since the charges against Abrego Garcia, there have been indictments brought against James Comey and Letitia James, while Democrat-aligned lawyers and law firms, universities perceived to be insufficiently obedient, and even sitting members of Congress who have tried to challenge the administration\u2019s policies have faced various legal and financial attacks. Talk-show hosts like Jimmy Kimmel and Stephen Colbert have also been targeted. The judiciary has been one of the few levers still capable of stopping this White House, and last week Crenshaw stepped up to the plate. His decision to end the sham indictment against Abrego Garcia is a massive win for not just one man but so many across the country and ideological spectrum who have faced the wrath of a president who has decided he does not like you.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI think it is vindicating for everyone who still believes that the system of due process that was established in this country at the founding of our Constitution still means something,\u201d Parker said, \u201cand that when people invoke it and demand that it be observed, they still have power to push back against this authoritarian bullying.\u201d<\/p>\n

The dismissal of the criminal indictment is undoubtedly a huge win for Abrego Garcia, but he faces an uphill legal battle as the federal government continues to pursue an active removal order against him. DHS has been pushing to deport him to various African countries, despite his willingness to self-deport to Costa Rica, where he was promised a form of legal status. A different federal judge has issued a block on Abrego Garcia\u2019s removal, and it remains in place pending the outcome of that litigation.<\/p>\n

We hope you learned a thing or two from this edition of Executive Dysfunction. If you enjoyed reading it, please consider <\/em>supporting our legal journalism by becoming a Slate Plus member<\/em>!<\/em><\/p>\n

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Elsewhere in Jurisprudence<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n