The US attorney who brought human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia was told by a top Justice Department official that prosecuting the alleged MS-13 gang member was a “top priority” after the Supreme Court ruled he was wrongfully deported, court documents unsealed Tuesday show.
The US attorney who brought human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia was told by a top Justice Department official that prosecuting the alleged MS-13 gang member was a “top priority” after the Supreme Court ruled he was wrongfully deported, court documents unsealed Tuesday show.
In response to allegations the prosecution of Abrego Garcia has been vindictive, acting US Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee Rob McGuire has argued that he – not the DOJ – made the decision to pursue a grand jury indictment against Abrego Garcia in the weeks leading up to his return to the US from El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.
“It’s a top priority,” Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh informed McGuire in an April 30 email, where they reportedly discussed bringing charges against the Maryland man over a Nov. 2022 Tennessee traffic stop.
The message was one of several between DOJ officials and Tennessee prosecutors included in District Judge Waverly Crenshaw’s Dec.
