'Pretending it doesn't exist': Abrego Garcia pushes sanctions request after Trump admin claims Fox News comments were 'necessary to protect' the government

Attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia are imploring a national justice to authorisation the Trump administration implicit extrajudicial comments made by a apical migration enforcement authoritative connected tv past month.

The latest request follows an archetypal petition for sanctions days aft Chief Border Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino made a bid of remarks astir the wrongfully deported Salvadoran antheral during appearances connected Fox News and Newsmax, arsenic Law&Crime antecedently reported.

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice responded by arguing the authorities "does not person editorial power of quality chyrons," that Bovino did not explicitly sanction Abrego Garcia, and that his statements were a protected effect to the defendant's.

On Tuesday, Abrego Garcia's lawyers accused the DOJ of trying to obfuscate by raising issues irrelevant to the quality astatine hand.

"The authorities has, clip and again, trampled implicit the Court's commendably measured efforts to support Mr. Abrego's fair-trial right," the eight-page reply memorandum reads astatine 1 point.

That dispute, the defence claims, concerns the court's gag order.

"Once again, the authorities has responded to a Court bid with which it disagrees by pretending it doesn't exist," the Tuesday memo begins. "Mr. Abrego moved for sanctions based connected elder DHS authoritative Gregory Bovino's flagrant usurpation of this Court's October 27 Order governing extrajudicial statements relating to this case. The government's little opposing that question mostly ignores the Order."

In the defense's view, the government's effect relied connected a specified notation to the section regularisation connected which the gag bid is based.

In late August, the antheral whose lawsuit assumed outsized value and became a flashpoint successful the 2nd Trump administration's migration docket asked U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw to contented a gag bid against respective officials – and particularly U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Kristi Noem.

By late October, the tribunal much oregon little ruled successful the defendant's favor; an opinion and order made wide the tribunal would enforce a section regularisation that "prohibits DOJ and DHS employees from making extrajudicial statements that volition 'have a important likelihood of materially prejudicing' Abrego's close to a 'fair trial,'" assuming a proceedings occurs.

Abrego Garcia argued the government, done Bovino, "repeatedly violated" the court's bid and the section regularisation connected which it is based with statements that are some "inappropriate and prejudicial."

The government, successful its response, mostly couched its defence of Bovino's remarks nether the auspices of the section regularisation – saying the statements made connected Fox News and Newsmax were "necessary to 'protect a client'—here, the United States of America and its People—from behaviour similar the Defendant's and his advocates' that creates a 'substantial undue prejudicial effect' successful an ongoing proceeding."

To perceive the DOJ archer it, Bovino had to marque the disputed comments due to the fact that of statements made by Abrego Garcia successful aboriginal December aft the Maryland national justice successful his civilian lawsuit ordered his release.

On Dec. 12, Abrego Garcia, flanked by an activistic offering a real-time translation, spoke out successful Spanish. He said helium "will proceed to combat and basal steadfast against each of the injustices this authorities has done upon me" and believed "this injustice volition travel to an end," according to the translator and the DOJ's relationship of the little property conference.

Notably, the Trump administration's effect besides takes contented with the court's bid and the section regularisation connected First Amendment grounds.

In different words, the authorities believes the parties are successful a tit-for-tat conflict envisioned – and covered – by the section rule, which allows the enforcement branch, present meaning Bovino, to respond. At the aforesaid time, the authorities says the regularisation "does not apply" to Bovino astatine all.

Not so, says the defense.

Rather, Abrego Garcia's lawyers punctual Crenshaw that the gag bid expressly applies to "governmental bureau employees" including "[e]mployees of DOJ and DHS" and puts them "on announcement that they are prohibited from making immoderate 'extrajudicial statement…that the [individual] knows oregon reasonably should cognize volition beryllium disseminated by nationalist connection that volition person a important likelihood of materially prejudicing" the case.

"The authorities mostly ignores that Mr. Bovino's statements independently violated the Order," the reply goes on. "And successful immoderate case, neither helium nor the authorities was escaped to simply disregard that wide Order based connected their disagreement with it."

The defence goes connected to callback however the authorities did effort to litigate the gag bid itself, "albeit connected unrelated ground," but did not entity to the portion of the bid restricting DHS employees. And, the defence belabors the constituent here, Bovino is an worker of DHS.

"The government's disregard of the Order is lone the latest illustration of its improper efforts to relitigate the Court's rulings by pretending they bash not exist," Abrego Garcia's reply continues.

The defence besides savages the assertion that Bovino's comments were indispensable to support the government's involvement by arguing that a transgression suspect making generalized comments astir his ain lawsuit could successful nary mode beryllium considered successful usurpation of the section rule.

"If the authorities incorrectly thought the Rule was violated, its remedy was to record its ain motion, not to person a elder authoritative prosecute successful bad-faith aforesaid help," the reply goes on. "The authorities knows better, adjacent if its hyperbolic absorption suggests otherwise."

Additionally, the reply memo adds much grist to the sanctions mill – accusing the authorities of a marque caller violation.

From the filing astatine length:

Indeed, the authorities doubled down connected those baseless accusations—and again violated the Order—when it complained publically astir Mr. Abrego's motion. On December 27, 2025, DHS Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin shared a station connected X stating: "MS-13 violent Kilmar Abrego Garcia was released by a rogue justice and is present making TikToks." Ms. McLaughlin added: "So we, astatine @DHSgov, are nether gag bid by an activistic justice and Kilmar Abrego Garcia is making TikToks. American justness ceases to relation erstwhile its arbiters soundlessness instrumentality enforcement and springiness megaphones to those who reason our ineligible system." Neither Mr. Bovino's nor Ms. McLaughlin's statements "protect" the government—they defame Mr. Abrego, this Court, and the Federal District Court for the District of Maryland.

Abrego Garcia's attorneys privation Crenshaw to bid the authorities to manus implicit find explaining whether Bovino and McLaughlin were made alert of the gag bid by the DOJ, which authorized them to talk astir the case, and immoderate guidance they received.

Matt Naham contributed to this report.