Administration ordered to more fully respond to discovery requests from Abrego Garcia's lawyers
U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, overruling a host of objections raised by the Trump administration, ordered the government Tuesday to more fully answer and respond by Wednesday evening to discovery requests from attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
In her written opinion, Xinis said the government's objections and mischaracterizations of court orders "reflect a willful and bad faith refusal to comply with discovery obligations."
The federal judge -- who last week slammed Justice Department attorneys over their inaction over Abrego Garcia's wrongful detention and ordered government officials to testify under oath through expedited discovery -- on Tuesday faulted the government for what she called "specious" invocations of a range of privilege assertions "without any supporting information or analysis."
"Given that this Court expressly warned Defendants and their counsel to adhere strictly to their discovery obligations ... their boilerplate, non-particularized objections are presumptively invalid and reflect a willful refusal to comply with this Court's Discovery Order and governing rules," Xinis wrote.
"Defendants have known, at least since last week, that this Court requires specific legal and factual showings to support any claim of privilege. Yet they have continued to rely on boilerplate assertions," wrote Xinis. "That ends now."
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran native who has been living with his wife and children in Maryland, was deported in March to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison -- despite a 2019 court order barring his deportation to that country due to fear of persecution -- after the Trump administration claimed he was a member of the criminal gang MS-13.
The Trump administration, while acknowledging that Abrego Garcia was deported to El Salvador in error, has said that his alleged MS-13 affiliation makes him ineligible to return to the United States. His wife and attorney have denied that he is a member of MS-13.
Xinis early this month ruled that the Trump administration must "facilitate" Abrego Garcia's return, and the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously affirmed that ruling, "with due regard for the deference owed to the Executive Branch in the conduct of foreign affairs."
In her opinion Tuesday, the judge also found fault with the DOJ's response to an inquiry seeking the names of all U.S. officials involved in ordering or authorizing Abrego Garcia's removal and placement at CECOT. The government provided just two names of DHS officials.
"Given the context of this case, Defendants have failed to respond in good faith, and their refusal to do so can only be viewed as willful and intentional noncompliance. Defendants must supplement their answer to include all individuals involved as requested," Xinis' order stated.
Earlier Tuesday, government attorneys asserted that providing detailed information on the legal basis for Abrego Garcia's confinement would be "wholly inappropriate and an invasion of diplomatic discussions," according to a joint letter outlining the discovery disputes between the parties.
"Upon Abrego's repatriation to El Salvador, his detention was no longer a matter of the United States' confinement, but a matter belonging to the government of El Salvador -- which has been explained to the Plaintiffs repeatedly," the government said.
Attorneys for Abrego Garcia in the letter accused the Trump administration of responding to their discovery requests by producing "nothing of substance" and providing interrogatory responses that are "non-responsive."
Abrego Garcia's attorneys said the administration has claimed state secrets privilege and governmental privilege "without any foundation for doing so."
The attorneys also said they invited government officials to meet and confer several times, but the officials declined to meet until Monday evening, "on the eve of depositions."
Department of Homeland Security Acting General Counsel Joseph Mazzara was scheduled to be deposed Tuesday, according to the letter.
The government, in the same letter, said they have "put forward a good-faith effort to provide appropriate responses to both Plaintiffs' Interrogatories and Request for Production."
In a separate filing, attorneys for Abrego Garcia included as an exhibit the government's objections to the plaintiff's first set of expedited interrogatories, in which the government says that "disclosing the details of any diplomatic discussions regarding Mr. Abrego Garcia at this time could negatively impact any outcome."
In the exhibit, the government acknowledged the $6 million that has been made available to the government of El Salvador to be used for its "law enforcement needs," including for the detention of the Venezuelan migrants that were sent to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison. But the government said Abrego Garcia and other Salvadoran nationals are not part of that arrangement.
"The United States has not provided any specific assistance with respect to the detention of Abrego Garcia or any other Salvadoran national," the government said.
The government had also objected to providing any documents or response to inquiries that pre-dated the entry of Xinis' preliminary injunction order on April 4.
Xinis rejected that, too.
"Defendants' arbitrarily cramped reading of the Court's order is rejected," she wrote Tuesday.
Xinis also ordered Abrego Garcia's attorneys to refine some of their discovery requests which she determined were overly broad.
ABC News' Katherine Faulders contributed to this report.
