DOJ Uses State Secrets Privilege To Block Judge In Abrego Garcia Case
President Donald Trump’s administration has made a new chess move in the case of deported illegal alien gang member Kilmar Abrego Garcia that likely won’t sit well with a federal judge overseeing one aspect of the case.
The Justice Department has invoked the state secrets privilege in response to U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis’ demand for more details in the case, Politico reported.
It is the second time the privilege has been used in this case, with the first instance occurring when Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg demanded more information regarding the deportee.
The use of the privilege was revealed in an order from Xinis on Wednesday, the report said.
“The Court requires formal briefing of the Defendants’ invocations of privilege, principally the state secrets and deliberative process privileges, as discussed in ECF No. 112,” the order said.
“Accordingly, by Monday May 12, 2025, the parties shall submit simultaneous briefs, not to exceed 25 pages exclusive of exhibits, addressing the legal and factual bases for the invocation of those privileges, including Plaintiff’s request for the Court to conduct in camera review of the withheld documents. On the same date, Defendants shall provide the privilege log discussed in ECF No. 112 to the Court,” it said.
The Department of Justice is also looking into a previous traffic stop of Abgrego Garcia by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in 2022, according to ABC News.
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national, gained headlines after being deported from Maryland to a prison in his native country by the Trump administration in March.
He unlawfully entered the United States in 2011, according to reports. Fox News initially obtained body cam footage from the Tennessee Highway Patrol from officers’ November 2022 interaction with Abrego Garcia.
At the time, state authorities suspected Abrego Garcia of human trafficking and pulled him over for speeding. He was in the automobile with eight other persons.
Abrego Garcia told officers they had been working on a construction project in Missouri. The officers did not give Abrego Garcia a ticket and allowed him to go on, however.
ABC News learned that Jose Ramon Hernandez-Reyes, 38, was the registered owner of the car operated by Abrego Garcia.
According to the outlet, federal agents investigating the traffic stop questioned Hernandez-Reyes last month at the Federal Correctional Institution in Talladega, Alabama, and learned that he had hired Abrego Garcia several times to transport undocumented migrants from Texas to other locations in the United States.
Joe Biden’s FBI told police in Tennessee to release him even though he was suspected of human trafficking and smuggling of illegal immigrants at the time, according to sources who spoke with Fox News.
In a show segment last week, host Jesse Watters played a video clip of Abrego Garcia’s interaction with officers, which showed them questioning the suspect.
During the traffic stop, Abrego Garcia told officers that he and the others were traveling for work in Missouri, while also informing them that he lived in Maryland. Officers began to get suspicious when they discovered that Abrego Garcia and the others were traveling without any luggage or belongings.
“He was a suspect in a human trafficking operation dating back three years and Fox Digital just got their hands on the body camera,” Watters said, introducing the clip. “You are seeing it here first. Tennessee highway patrol stopped Kilmar for speeding and noticed he had eight other people in the car. All with no luggage.”
“After talking to Kilmar,” Watters continued, “the officers had no doubt that he was trafficking.”
“In the video, you can see one of the cops making a phone call,” Watters continued. “The body camera audio cuts over 10 minutes. Sources told us that on that call was Joe Biden’s FBI, which advised police not to detain Kilmar at the time.”
