Garcia kept fighting this deportation, arguing that it had violated his due process rights. The administration kept fighting to keep Garcia silent and locked in a foreign hellhole. The administration lost. A court ordered his return to the US. Nothing got much better once Abrego Garcia returned. The government whipped up an extremely questionable criminal case against him in order to keep him jailed. Then it offered him the unpalatable option of pleading guilty to a bunch of criminal charges or being deported to other countries with\u00a0similarly miserable histories<\/a>\u00a0of human rights violations.<\/p>\n The judge handling the case\u00a0finally released Abrego Garcia<\/a>\u00a0over the recent holiday season and demanded the government try to convince it that it isn\u2019t\u00a0engaged in purely vindictive prosecution<\/a>\u00a0of someone who has angered it by successfully evoking his constitutional rights.<\/p>\n The government won\u2019t have to provide that answer for another couple of weeks yet. In the meantime, though, it no longer has a trial date to look forward to. That\u2019s been set aside as the court awaits the govenrment\u2019s explanation for its actions. The government has also been hit with a gag order that is supposed to prevent government officials from further disparaging Abrego Garcia with public comments and social media posts.<\/p>\n It violated that gag order almost immediately, with DHS sub-boss Tricia McLaughlin\u00a0reposting a far-right podcaster\u2019s declaration<\/a>\u00a0that Abrego Garcia was a \u201cMS-13 terrorist.\u201d This is the sort of thing the administration has been doing ever since it was forced to respect Abrego Garcia\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n The government definitely shouldn\u2019t be doing this, especially those involved with his arrest, deportation, detainment, or otherwise expected to possibly testify against Abrego Garcia in court. Now,\u00a0as Politico\u2019s Josh Gerstein points out at Bluesky<\/a>, Abrego Garcia is seeking sanctions because another government official with a penchant for blatantly ignoring court orders \u2014 Border Patrol Commander\u00a0Gregory Bovino<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 is doing the sort of thing\u00a0this<\/em>\u00a0court order<\/a>\u00a0[PDF] explicitly forbids.<\/p>\n Once again, the government has responded to a Court order with which it disagrees by pretending it doesn\u2019t exist. Mr. Abrego moved for sanctions based on senior DHS official Gregory Bovino\u2019s flagrant violation of this Court\u2019s October 27 Order (Dkt. 183, the \u201cOrder\u201d) governing extrajudicial statements relating to this case. (Dkt. 271). The government\u2019s brief opposing that motion largely ignores the Order.<\/em><\/p>\n [\u2026]<\/em><\/p>\n Nor, in any event, can Mr. Bovino\u2019s statements seriously be characterized as ones \u201cthat a reasonable lawyer would believe [are] required to protect a client from the substantial undue prejudicial effect of recent publicity\u201d or \u201climited to such information as is necessary to mitigate the recent adverse publicity.\u201d Far from being \u201cmeek,\u201d as the government ludicrously characterizes them (Dkt. 282 at 7), Mr. Bovino\u2019s statements include descriptions of Mr. Abrego as \u201can MS-13 gang member\u2026ready to prey on Americans yet again,\u201d \u201ca wife-beater,\u201d \u201can alien smuggler,\u201d and someone who \u201cwants to\u2026leech off the United States.\u201d Mr. Bovino went on to describe the judges presiding over Mr. Abrego\u2019s civil and criminal cases as \u201cactivist\u201d and \u201cextremist.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Abrego Garcia\u2019s continue to press the case for sanctions against the administration, adding to the mix the comments DHS Undersecretary made late last week in apparent violation of the still-standing gag order:<\/p>\n On December 27, 2025, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin shared a post on X stating: \u201cMS-13 terrorist Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released by a rogue judge and is now making TikToks.\u201d Ms. McLaughlin added: \u201cSo we, at @DHSgov, are under gag order by an activist judge and Kilmar Abrego Garcia is making TikToks. American justice ceases to function when its arbiters silence law enforcement and give megaphones to those who oppose our legal system.\u201d Neither Mr. Bovino\u2019s nor Ms. McLaughlin\u2019s statements \u201cprotect\u201d the government\u2014they defame Mr. Abrego, this Court, and the Federal District Court for the District of Maryland.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n On top of asking for sanctions this court has yet to deliver, Abrego Garcia wants to know who\u2019s handling what in the upper echelons of the administration, since it\u2019s become apparent that not even high-ranking officials appear to be concerned that they\u2019re violating court orders.<\/p>\n The Court should grant Mr. Abrego\u2019s requests that the government be ordered to disclose (1) whether and how the prosecution provided relevant DHS employees with a copy of the Order, (2) who authorized Mr. Bovino and Ms. McLaughlin to speak about Mr. Abrego\u2019s case, and (3) what guidance that person or persons gave Mr. Bovino and Ms. McLaughlin about what they could and could not say on national television or social media, as well as all communications between counsel for the government and Mr. Bovino, Ms. McLaughlin, or DHS regarding Mr. Bovino\u2019s and Ms. McLaughlin\u2019s statements, including any attempts to obtain a retraction or apology, so that the Court may determine the appropriate course of action.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s a long shot and the government is sure to insist that pretty much everything listed here is a privileged communication between lawyers and government officials. But there\u2019s a chance some of this might actually make its way into open court, which will allow the American public to see how this administration operates when it clearly feels it doesn\u2019t have to answer to anything but its basest urges.<\/p>\n Abrego Garcia Asks For Sanctions As Gov\u2019t Officials Continue To Publicly Attack Him Ahead Of His Trial<\/a><\/p>\n More Law-Related Stories From Techdirt<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Scope Of Chinese \u2018Salt Typhoon\u2019 Hack Keeps Getting Worse, As Trump Dismantles U.S. Cybersecurity Defenses<\/a> The post Abrego Garcia Asks For Sanctions As Gov\u2019t Officials Continue To Publicly Attack Him Ahead Of His Trial<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n Whether the Trump administration likes it or not, the right to a fair trial still exists. And even the person the government is now subjecting to what looks a whole lot like a vindictive prosecution is still a beneficiary of this right.<\/p>\n Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador\u2019s\u00a0infamous CECOT<\/a>\u00a0earlier this year along with another hundred-plus deportees the country\u2019s dictator agreed to take off the United States\u2019 hands in exchange for a few million dollars.<\/p>\n Garcia kept fighting this deportation, arguing that it had violated his due process rights. The administration kept fighting to keep Garcia silent and locked in a foreign hellhole. The administration lost. A court ordered his return to the US. Nothing got much better once Abrego Garcia returned. The government whipped up an extremely questionable criminal case against him in order to keep him jailed. Then it offered him the unpalatable option of pleading guilty to a bunch of criminal charges or being deported to other countries with\u00a0similarly miserable histories<\/a>\u00a0of human rights violations.<\/p>\n The judge handling the case\u00a0finally released Abrego Garcia<\/a>\u00a0over the recent holiday season and demanded the government try to convince it that it isn\u2019t\u00a0engaged in purely vindictive prosecution<\/a>\u00a0of someone who has angered it by successfully evoking his constitutional rights.<\/p>\n The government won\u2019t have to provide that answer for another couple of weeks yet. In the meantime, though, it no longer has a trial date to look forward to. That\u2019s been set aside as the court awaits the govenrment\u2019s explanation for its actions. The government has also been hit with a gag order that is supposed to prevent government officials from further disparaging Abrego Garcia with public comments and social media posts.<\/p>\n It violated that gag order almost immediately, with DHS sub-boss Tricia McLaughlin\u00a0reposting a far-right podcaster\u2019s declaration<\/a>\u00a0that Abrego Garcia was a \u201cMS-13 terrorist.\u201d This is the sort of thing the administration has been doing ever since it was forced to respect Abrego Garcia\u2019s rights.<\/p>\n The government definitely shouldn\u2019t be doing this, especially those involved with his arrest, deportation, detainment, or otherwise expected to possibly testify against Abrego Garcia in court. Now,\u00a0as Politico\u2019s Josh Gerstein points out at Bluesky<\/a>, Abrego Garcia is seeking sanctions because another government official with a penchant for blatantly ignoring court orders \u2014 Border Patrol Commander\u00a0Gregory Bovino<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 is doing the sort of thing\u00a0this<\/em>\u00a0court order<\/a>\u00a0[PDF] explicitly forbids.<\/p>\n Once again, the government has responded to a Court order with which it disagrees by pretending it doesn\u2019t exist. Mr. Abrego moved for sanctions based on senior DHS official Gregory Bovino\u2019s flagrant violation of this Court\u2019s October 27 Order (Dkt. 183, the \u201cOrder\u201d) governing extrajudicial statements relating to this case. (Dkt. 271). The government\u2019s brief opposing that motion largely ignores the Order.<\/em><\/p>\n [\u2026]<\/em><\/p>\n Nor, in any event, can Mr. Bovino\u2019s statements seriously be characterized as ones \u201cthat a reasonable lawyer would believe [are] required to protect a client from the substantial undue prejudicial effect of recent publicity\u201d or \u201climited to such information as is necessary to mitigate the recent adverse publicity.\u201d Far from being \u201cmeek,\u201d as the government ludicrously characterizes them (Dkt. 282 at 7), Mr. Bovino\u2019s statements include descriptions of Mr. Abrego as \u201can MS-13 gang member\u2026ready to prey on Americans yet again,\u201d \u201ca wife-beater,\u201d \u201can alien smuggler,\u201d and someone who \u201cwants to\u2026leech off the United States.\u201d Mr. Bovino went on to describe the judges presiding over Mr. Abrego\u2019s civil and criminal cases as \u201cactivist\u201d and \u201cextremist.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Abrego Garcia\u2019s continue to press the case for sanctions against the administration, adding to the mix the comments DHS Undersecretary made late last week in apparent violation of the still-standing gag order:<\/p>\n On December 27, 2025, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin shared a post on X stating: \u201cMS-13 terrorist Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released by a rogue judge and is now making TikToks.\u201d Ms. McLaughlin added: \u201cSo we, at @DHSgov, are under gag order by an activist judge and Kilmar Abrego Garcia is making TikToks. American justice ceases to function when its arbiters silence law enforcement and give megaphones to those who oppose our legal system.\u201d Neither Mr. Bovino\u2019s nor Ms. McLaughlin\u2019s statements \u201cprotect\u201d the government\u2014they defame Mr. Abrego, this Court, and the Federal District Court for the District of Maryland.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n On top of asking for sanctions this court has yet to deliver, Abrego Garcia wants to know who\u2019s handling what in the upper echelons of the administration, since it\u2019s become apparent that not even high-ranking officials appear to be concerned that they\u2019re violating court orders.<\/p>\n The Court should grant Mr. Abrego\u2019s requests that the government be ordered to disclose (1) whether and how the prosecution provided relevant DHS employees with a copy of the Order, (2) who authorized Mr. Bovino and Ms. McLaughlin to speak about Mr. Abrego\u2019s case, and (3) what guidance that person or persons gave Mr. Bovino and Ms. McLaughlin about what they could and could not say on national television or social media, as well as all communications between counsel for the government and Mr. Bovino, Ms. McLaughlin, or DHS regarding Mr. Bovino\u2019s and Ms. McLaughlin\u2019s statements, including any attempts to obtain a retraction or apology, so that the Court may determine the appropriate course of action.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s a long shot and the government is sure to insist that pretty much everything listed here is a privileged communication between lawyers and government officials. But there\u2019s a chance some of this might actually make its way into open court, which will allow the American public to see how this administration operates when it clearly feels it doesn\u2019t have to answer to anything but its basest urges.<\/p>\n Abrego Garcia Asks For Sanctions As Gov\u2019t Officials Continue To Publicly Attack Him Ahead Of His Trial<\/a><\/p>\n More Law-Related Stories From Techdirt<\/strong>:<\/p>\n Scope Of Chinese \u2018Salt Typhoon\u2019 Hack Keeps Getting Worse, As Trump Dismantles U.S. Cybersecurity Defenses<\/a> Whether the Trump administration likes it or not, the right to a fair trial still exists. And even the person the government is now subjecting to what looks a whole lot like a vindictive prosecution is still a beneficiary of this right. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador\u2019s\u00a0infamous CECOT\u00a0earlier this year along with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":141324,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-141323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2231358067-scaled-3R3XQy.jpg?fit=2560%2C1706&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=141323"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/141323\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=141323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=141323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=141323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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Abolish ICE Before They Kill Again, Impeach Trump & Noem Before They Incite More Murder<\/a>
Pam Bondi Dismissed Charges Against Surgeon Who Falsified Vaccine Cards. It Emboldened Others With Similar Cases.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/abovethelaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2025\/08\/GettyImages-2231358067-300x200.jpg?resize=300%2C200&ssl=1\" "\\"\\"")
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Abolish ICE Before They Kill Again, Impeach Trump & Noem Before They Incite More Murder<\/a>
Pam Bondi Dismissed Charges Against Surgeon Who Falsified Vaccine Cards. It Emboldened Others With Similar Cases.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"