The Lawfare Podcast · The Lawfare Institute

Lawfare Live: Unpacking the Kilmar Abrego Garcia Hearing with Anna Bower

February 26, 2026·28 min·2 clips

The government reopened its investigation into Abrego Garcia only after the Supreme Court ordered his return to the U.S.

This Lawfare Live episode provides detailed coverage of the evidentiary hearing in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia criminal case. Abrego Garcia was one of the people removed to El Salvador under the Trump administration invocation of the Alien Enemies Act. A federal judge ordered his return, and the Supreme Court upheld that order in mid-April. Shortly after, he was indicted on human smuggling charges in the Middle District of Tennessee, and his defense team filed a vindictive prosecution motion arguing the charges were retaliation for his successful legal challenge. The hearing addressed whether the government can rebut the presumption of vindictiveness that Judge Waverly Crenshaw previously found the defense had established. The government called two witnesses. The first was Reina Saud, an HSI special agent in charge in Nashville who testified she learned about the case on April 27 when someone sent her a Tennessee Star article about a 2022 traffic stop involving Abrego Garcia. She could not recall who sent the article, as it was on a work phone she turned in upon retirement. Saud then called Robert McGuire, the acting US Attorney in the Middle District of Tennessee. McGuire testified he received a call from Saud about the article, then contacted Tennessee Highway Patrol and learned body cam footage existed from the traffic stop. However, the timeline became problematic for the government. That same Sunday evening, McGuire received an email from Akash Singh, a senior advisor in Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche office, asking him to join a call about Jose Hernandez Reyes, who became co-conspirator one in the eventual indictment. By April 30, just three days later, Singh was emailing McGuire asking about draft charging documents, the same day McGuire first viewed the body cam footage. The defense strategy focused on establishing that the government witnesses could not speak to decisions made at higher levels and on creating an atmosphere showing the pressure McGuire faced. They elicited testimony about the Bondi memo characterizing DOJ lawyers as the president lawyers and about firings of officials who did not comply with administration policy goals. The defense has a pending motion to call higher-level officials including Akash Singh and Todd Blanche, but the government has asserted executive privilege, attorney-client privilege, and deliberative process privilege over their testimony. Anna Bower notes that Abrego Garcia attended the hearing as a free man, having been released from both immigration and criminal detention. She observed him eating lunch with his legal team in the courthouse hallway. The government case was led by Stanley Woodward, formerly a January 6 defense attorney and Walt Nauta counsel in the classified documents case, now serving as associate attorney general. Judge Crenshaw asked questions focused on the timeline, particularly how HSI investigations related to the Supreme Court decision, but otherwise maintained a poker face. He ordered post-hearing briefs within 30 days and indicated he may decide without further oral argument. The government chose not to call a third planned witness, Agent Van Wee.

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