Judge Paula Xinis called for a hearing where she could question a Department of Homeland Security staff member about the Kilmar Ábrego García case and details around his deportation to a brutal prison in El Salvador.
The proceedings were forced to pause after Ábrego Garcia's lawyers found that the DOJ had used several documents to help aid the witness from ICE called to testify.
Thomas Giles, an ICE official based in Los Angeles, took the stand Thursday afternoon, where he was questioned about their plans for Ábrego Garcia's deportation. Lawfare's Anna Bower posted updates on the case on Bluesky.
Ábrego Garcia's lawyer, Sascha Rand, questioned Giles on whether he knew any details of the case, to which he said "no." She also asked if he spoke to anyone at DHS about the specifics of the Ábrego Garcia case. Again, he answered "no," saying that he spent about three or four hours preparing to testify.
Rand asked, "Did it cross your mind when you looked at the court's order that you should speak to someone familiar with this case at DHS or ICE?"
He said it did not cross his mind.
So, Rand then asked why Giles never thought to tell the government prosecutors that they should probably get someone familiar with the case to testify in court.
Rand has previously alleged that the Trump administration is playing games by not providing people with direct knowledge of the case to give information, noted Baltimore reporter Mike Hellgren, from CBS News in an X post.
The Justice Department has gone after Ábrego Garcia, charging him with smuggling in Tennessee, where he was transferred after the U.S. returned him from El Salvador. The judge in the case agreed that Ábrego Garcia could be released on Bond, but ICE said that if he is released, they'll arrest and deport him.
Ábrego Garcia's lawyers have been fighting the case involving his return from the El Salvador prison to his home state of Maryland. At issue in the Greenbelt courtroom on Thursday is whether he can be returned to Maryland or if ICE will continue to arrest him at every opportunity.
The hearing comes on the heels of a bombshell report that internal documents show top Justice Department official Emile Bove, who is now up for a federal appeals court judgeship, engaged in unethical behavior in the Ábrego Garcia case.
According to CBS News, "The text and email messages, which were obtained by Democratic leadership on the Senate Judiciary Committee, show Reuveni unsuccessfully pressed his colleagues and other federal agencies for assistance in fulfilling a court order that Abrego Garcia be returned to the U.S. in March. Dozens of the email messages also allegedly reveal attempts by Trump administration officials to label Abrego Garcia a leader of the gang MS-13 — which Abrego Garcia's lawyers have strongly denied — and downplay the agency's mistake in removing him to El Salvador. "
