VIDEO: David Kurtz Reports from Abrego Garcia’s Vindictive Prosecution Hearing

TPM’s David Kurtz in-person covered a hearing in Nashville in which the Trump administration sought to prove it did not pursue vindictive charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the man it mistakenly imprisoned in El Salvador last year. Immediately after leaving the courtroom, David sat down with me to record a Substack Live about what happened. Watch this here:

You will recall that in 2025, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers fought his expulsion from the country and won, a decision upheld by the Supreme Court. The Trump administration returned him to the United States last summer — but only after he was indicted on new criminal charges. His lawyers argued that the new charges constituted a vindictive prosecution, intended to punish him for successfully resisting his surrender to CECOT, and that the judge should dismiss the case. Vindictive lawsuits are typically difficult to prove in court, but U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw found Abrego Garcia’s argument credible and ordered the Trump administration to prove the lawsuits were not vindictive. That’s what today’s hearing was for.

The year 2025 has seen numerous lawsuits that were clearly intended to punish people the Trump administration viewed as its enemies, but this is the first time a vindictive lawsuit has reached the point of potentially getting a case thrown out. This broader context is a big part of why we’re addressing it today.

Watch the video above to hear David explain what happened at today’s hearing.