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 Tennessee on 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, was deported to 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 to facilitate 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 Maryland ordered Abrego Garcia released from immigration detention, where he had been held since August, and later blocked Immigration and Customs Enforcement from re-detaining him through the Christmas holiday.