Abrego Garcia's lawyers worry he can't get a fair trial and request gag
order for top US officials
[August 30, 2025]
By BEN FINLEY
Lawyers for Kilmar Abrego Garcia say they are concerned he can't get a
fair trial in his human smuggling case because Trump administration
officials keep attacking him with “highly prejudicial, inflammatory, and
false statements.”
The attorneys are asking a federal judge in Tennessee to order U.S.
government officials involved with his case — including Attorney General
Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem — to
hold back on their comments.
“For months, numerous representatives of the same federal government
that is responsible for prosecuting this case have publicly disparaged
Mr. Abrego’s character and reputation,” his attorneys wrote in a filing
on Thursday night, adding that officials have “expressed the opinion
that he is guilty of the crimes charged and far worse.”
The Salvadoran national and former Maryland construction worker became a
lightning rod over President Donald Trump's hard-line immigration
policies when he was wrongfully deported in March to a notorious prison
in El Salvador. Trump's Republican administration claimed he was an
MS-13 gang member, which he has repeatedly denied and for which he
wasn't charged.
Facing a U.S. Supreme Court order, the Trump administration returned
Abrego Garcia in June, but only to face the federal human smuggling
charges in Tennessee. Abrego Garcia has pleaded not guilty, while his
attorneys have called the case preposterous and vindictive.
The Trump administration is trying to deport Abrego Garcia again, this
time to the African country of Uganda. He was taken into immigration
custody on Monday after a federal judge in Tennessee released him from
jail, determining he's not a flight risk or a danger to the community.
The Trump administration alleges Abrego Garcia is a danger and is trying
to deport him before trial, which is scheduled for January. Abrego
Garcia's immigration attorneys said this week that he'll request asylum
in the U.S.
In Thursday's filing, Abrego Garcia’s attorneys in Tennessee referred to
statements from officials that label him as someone who's committed
various crimes, even though he hasn't been convicted. For instance, they
cited statements from Noem that he is an MS-13 gang member and “a
horrible human being and a monster."
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Kilmar Abrego Garcia attends a protest rally at the Immigration and
Customs Enforcement field office in Baltimore, Monday, Aug. 25,
2025, to support Abrego Garcia. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
The attorneys also cited statements from Bondi, who told Trump this
week that Abrego Garcia “needs to be in prison, he doesn’t need to
be on the streets like all these liberals want him to be. ... We are
going to keep America safe from all of these foreign terrorist
organizations, including Abrego Garcia.”
This isn't the first time his attorneys have raised such concerns.
They asked a federal judge in Tennessee to intervene earlier this
summer.
In late July, U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw Jr. issued an
order to lawyers involved with the case, saying they must “ensure
that any proper public communications include that the Indictment
only contains allegations.”
“Our Constitution requires that Abrego is presumed innocent unless
and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt by a jury,” the
judge wrote.
Thursday's filing asks the judge to issue an order for “officials
that are involved in this case, and all officials in their
supervisory chain, including Attorney General Bondi and Secretary
Noem."
The Justice Department declined to comment on the matter in an email
to The Associated Press. Acting U.S. Attorney Robert E. McGuire in
Tennessee, who is prosecuting the human smuggling case, also
declined to comment.
The Department of Homeland Security said in an emailed statement
that the media has peddled a sob story about Abrego Garcia that has
"completely fallen apart."
“If Kilmar Abrego Garcia did not want to be mentioned by the
Secretary of Homeland Security, then he should have not entered our
country illegally and committed heinous crimes," the statement said.
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