Top Trump DOJ official faces subpoena threat from wrongly deported migrant

The wrongly deported migrant, now being charged with gang activity by the Trump administration, is seeking a subpoena of Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and several other Justice Department officials as part of his motion to dismiss the case for vindictive prosecution.

The news was reported on Wednesday evening by Politico's Kyle Cheney, who provided a link to the filing in opposition to Kilmar Abrego Garcia's motion by the Justice Department.

"Defendant’s motion to compel now asks this Court to authorize an open-ended fishing expedition into internal governmental documents and communications that would never be subject to discovery in the normal course," read the filing. "He seeks such extraordinary and intrusive discovery, moreover, in furtherance of a claim of vindictive and selective prosecution that is meritless on its face: the relevant prosecutorial decision-maker, the Acting U.S. Attorney, has explained on the record that this prosecution was not brought for vindictive or discriminatory reasons."

Abrego, a Salvadoran immigrant living with his family in Maryland, was sent to the infamous CECOT megaprison in his birth country, despite a court order barring his deportation there. The Trump administration has repeatedly claimed he is affiliated with the transnational MS-13 criminal gang, which Abregon denies.

Initially, the administration sought to claim that it had no jurisdiction to force El Salvador to return Abrego to American soil, but after months of outcry over the case, it relented and moved to have him returned. Authorities then promptly charged him in a criminal case and vowed to deport him to a different country.

This month, the administration has tried to get a number of African countries with no connection to Abrego, including Uganda, Ghana, and Eswatini, to accept him, but so far, all have refused.