Trump admin wants to halt discovery in Kilmar Abrego Garcia case after brutal rebuke from judge
Justice Department lawyers petitioned for a seven-day delay in discovery over the Trump administration’s deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia in a sealed motion Wednesday.While the rationale for a potential delay is unclear, the petition comes after presiding US District Judge Paula Xinis ordered an expedited discovery and demanded that Trump administration officials testify about Abrego Garcia’s deportation.
“For weeks, Defendants have sought refuge behind vague and unsubstantiated assertions of privilege, using them as a shield to obstruct discovery and evade compliance with this Court’s orders,” Xinis wrote in a scathing order Tuesday.“Defendants have known, at least since last week, that this Court requires specific legal and factual showings to support any claim of privilege.
Yet they have continued to rely on boilerplate assertions.That ends now.”She further chided them for exhibiting “a willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations.”DOJ attorneys had argued Tuesday that furnishing specific information about the legal justifications for Abrego Garcia’s detention would be “wholly inappropriate and an invasion of diplomatic discussions,” court filings show.
They argued that it is “no longer a matter of the United States’ confinement” but rather an issue for the government of El Salvador to consider.Earlier this month, Xinis had ruled that the Trump administration must “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia to the US and has repeatedly rebuked DOJ lawyers for not providing enough details about efforts to comply with that order.The Supreme Court largely upheld her order to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia to the US, but caveated that she must show “due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs.”Top brass of the Trump administration, such as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy Stephen Miller, have argued that the Supreme Court’s rulin...