Abrego Garcia's attorneys say Trump administration has "stonewalled" in facilitating his release
Source: CBS News
Updated on: May 13, 2025 / 3:22 PM EDT
Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man who the Trump administration admitted was mistakenly included in a group of accused gang members sent to a prison in El Salvador, accused the government of having "stonewalled" the court-ordered facilitation of his return to the U.S. "Plaintiffs have sought discovery to uncover the truth as to the Government's efforts (or lack thereof) as well as its abilities to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return—the essential issue in this case.
Over and over, the Government has stonewalled Plaintiffs by asserting unsupported privileges— primarily state secrets and deliberative process—to withhold written discovery and to instruct witnesses not to answer even basic questions," the filing, published late Monday, says. "Even as the Government speaks freely about Abrego Garcia in public, in this litigation it insists on secrecy." U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered in April that the government must facilitate his release, a ruling that has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
Last week, the Trump administration appears to have invoked the state secrets privilege and other privileges to withhold information in the case from Abrego Garcia's attorneys as they continue to seek his release. On Tuesday, Xinis said in an order that the government had failed to provide a privilege log, or a document that lists the material being withheld, to invoke state secrets privilege. Xinis gave the government to provide the privilege log until 3 p.m., saying that "failure to file the privilege log or otherwise respond will be construed as an intentional refusal to comply with this Court's orders."
The government filed their response at 3 p.m., but it was sealed to the public. The Justice Department had indicated last month that it would invoke certain privileges to protect information regarding Abrego Garcia's removal from the U.S., citing in a filing the attorney-client privilege, state secrets privilege and certain executive privileges. The government's response to the allegations of stonewalling and their invocation of privilege were filed under seal with the court. Abrego Garcia's attorneys said there is "little reason to believe" that invoking the state secrets privilege is appropriate in this case.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/kilmar-abrego-garcia-attorneys-trump-administration-stonewalled/
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