Fed up judge deals Trump MAJOR LOSS in LANDMARK case

You're watching the Legal Breakdown. Glenn, more bad news for Donald Trump as. he loses a major case in court. Can you. explain what just happened? Yeah, Brian. Venezuelan immigrant Kilmar. Abrego Garcia just beat Donald Trump's. DOJ in court again. You know, the Trump. administration just can't quit Abrego. Garcia. Um so, people will remember that. Abrego Garcia was one of about 130 some. odd Venezuelan immigrants who were and.

I'm going to use this word advisedly. essentially kidnapped by the Trump. administration, stuffed onto planes, and. flown to El Salvador all in violation of. their constitutional due process rights, which is why I used the term kidnapped. They were then put in a prison in El. Salvador, though the majority of them. had never been convicted of a crime. I. mean, this was really sort of a human. rights abuse writ large. Now, they're. all in the process of being ordered.

returned to the United States, but. Kilmar Abrego um in particular um. he was had a case. He challenged his. illegal deportation, and the Supreme. Court it went all the way up to the. Supreme Court ordered or affirmed the. lower court order that the the Trump. administration must facilitate his. release from that prison and his return. to the United States so he could have. his constitutional rights honored. And. ever since, you know, the the Trump. administration has been determined that.

they were going to get Abrego Garcia by. any means necessary. So much so, Brian, that they trumped up a criminal. prosecution of Abrego Garcia down in. Tennessee in connection with a 2021. traffic stop in the state of Tennessee. that not only didn't result in any. criminal charges against Abrego Garcia. or anyone else, he didn't get so much as. a traffic ticket. But they used that as. a basis to bring criminal charges. against him down in Tennessee. That.

becomes relevant to the story in a. minute. But what we just got from the. federal judge in Maryland, Judge Cinees, who has been presiding over his. deportation case, we just got an order. handed down that ICE may not may not. re-detain. Abrego Garcia, period. And it was really. for some hyper-technical reasons that. deal with when a 90-day time limit had. expired based on some documents that the.

the Department of Justice and DHS had. filed in his deportation matter. But the. bottom line is. the Trump administration, DHS, ICE had. been trying over and over and over again. not just to deport him, but continue to. take him into custody every time a judge. would order him released. The Georgia. the judge down in Tennessee ordered him. released. There wasn't enough evidence. to keep him detained in that case. He.

came back up to Maryland and they put. him right back in custody. Judge Cinees, the immigration judge in Maryland, ordered him released. So this has been. sort of a long tortured procedural path. that this case has taken. But let me. just read a couple of sentences of Judge. Cinees' brand new order directing that. he may not be re-detained. Here's what. the judge said. Since August 2025, respondents, that's. Kristi Noem and company, so I'm going to.

use that name. Since August 2025, Kristi. Noem and company have refused to procure. Abrego Garcia's immediate removal. deportation to Costa Rica in favor of. phantom removals to three, maybe four. African countries. Indeed, since Abrego. Abrego secured his release from criminal. custody in his Tennessee case in August. 2025, Christie Noem and company have. made one empty threat after another to.

remove him to countries in Africa with. no real chance of success. At the same. time, Noem and company purposefully and. for no reason ignored the one country. that has consistently offered to accept. Abrego Garcia as a refugee and to which. he agrees to go. That country is Costa. Rica. The reason that's so important and. the reason I quoted it is because Abrego. Garcia early on said, "Listen, if you're.

going to deport me, I would accept being. deported to Costa Rica." And at one. point, the the federal government, the. executive branch said, "Fine, we will. deport you to Costa Rica, but. only if you plead guilty in the bogus. trumped-up criminal case that we brought. against you down in Tennessee." And he. and his lawyer said, "No, because I'm. not guilty of any crimes in Tennessee.". And then what did the Trump. administration do? They vindictively, my.

assessment, yanked that offer to send. him to Costa Rica. That's obviously and. transparently what's going on here. The. reason that language in Judge Sweeney's. ruling in the Maryland deportation case. is so important is because in the coming. days, guess what? Abrego Garcia will be. back in that criminal courtroom in. Tennessee litigating his motion to. dismiss based on vindictive prosecution. And that very language from Judge.

Sweeney's highlighting [snorts]. the Trump administration's vindictive. conduct against Abrego Garcia is going. to strengthen Abrego Garcia's motion to. dismiss. based on vindictive prosecution in his. Tennessee case. You know, I'm not saying. everything's coming up roses for Abrego. Garcia. He's been through a hell of a. lot, but boy, he is whooping Donald. Trump's Department of Justice, you know, time and time again in every court in.

which they have tried to get after him. Glenn, I actually think this is a really. important moment because we have heard. so much about potential vindictive. prosecutions. Obviously, Trump has. brought them against, you know, Adam. Schiff, Letitia James, James Comey. He like the the sky's the limit with. this guy in terms of of vindictively. prosecuting. Don Lemon is is dealing. with it right now. Is this the first. case where somebody is actually seeking. to fight back against the Trump. administration by by invoking this.

defense of vindictive prosecution? Yeah, Brian, the perfect question because. people may remember that when former FBI. Director James Comey was indicted and. when current New York Attorney General. Letitia James was indicted, they both. filed motions to dismiss their cases. based on, among other things, vindictive. prosecution. But here's the thing, the. judges in those cases, the James case. and the Comey case, didn't even make it. to the vindictive prosecution motion. because they threw the cases out on on.

something that happened earlier in time. in the case. And it was Lindsey Halligan. who had no lawful authority to walk into. grand juries and secure indictments. against anybody. She was the one who. secured those two indictments and the. judges threw those cases out. And Brian, those cases have not been revived. So, importantly, there has never been a case. thrown out in the Trump era on. vindictive prosecution. This may be the.

first one if Judge Waverly Crenshaw, who. is the presiding judge down in. Tennessee, grants the motion to dismiss. them. Based on everything I've seen in. the case including a really bogus almost. evidence-free indictment. Um I have a feeling. uh that that that the motion to dismiss. will very likely be granted and that. will be a colossal defeat for the Trump. administration. Now, I want to talk. about that because I think that that has.

farther-reaching implications than just. this particular case, but just a quick. reminder for anybody who's watching. right now, if you want to stay on top of. this case and all other legal news, the. best way to do that is to subscribe to. both of our channels. I'm going to put. those links in the post description of. this video. So, if you're not yet. subscribed, that's a great way to. support our work. It is completely free. and a great way to show some support for. independent media. So, again, if you're. not yet subscribed, check out the links. in the post description of this video. So, Glenn, if that does indeed happen, if this case is thrown away because of. because a judge finds that Trump was.

vindictively prosecuting eyes. can see he is doing, to what extent is. that going to have implications on other. cases that are ongoing right now? I I. understand that each each case a judge. saws the legal wood right in front of. them and and that of course, you know, any. individual case at a district court or. whatever it may be is not going to have. legal precedent, binding precedent, but. to what extent does it have atmospheric. precedent when you have at least one. judge rule that in fact Trump has.

engaged in vindictive prosecution? If Judge Waverly Crenshaw grants Abreu. Garcia's motion to dismiss because the. evidence shows the Trump administration. vindictively prosecuted prosecuted him, that will become a player in every other. challenge to every other Trump. prosecution moving forward. You're. exactly right, Brian. It's not legal. precedent, but it will be powerful and. persuasive, not just atmospheric.

precedent, but it will be proof that. Donald Trump has priors on the. vindictive prosecution front and you can. bet it will make an appearance if he. ends up being able to successfully. indict, which I don't think he will. James Comey again, Letitia James again, Jerome Powell the Fed chairman, the six. members of Congress who committed no. crime, but they merely stated accurately. the military law that military members.

must disobey unlawful orders. If any of. these cases result in a an indictment, I have a feeling the first thing you're. going to hear from the mouth of the. attorney representing anybody who has. been indicted is Judge, Donald Trump's. got priors on the vindictive prosecution. front. Let's look at his rap sheet, figuratively speaking, and they are. going to hold up what this. administration did to that young. Venezuelan immigrant, Abrego Garcia, as.

proof that Donald Trump cannot be. trusted to let the Department of Justice. make fair, impartial, and independent. prosecutorial decisions. Well, you know, Glenn, people are going to look at this. and they're going to say, "Okay, well, a. vindictive prosecution didn't work, and. so all is well and good all is well and. good for those members of Congress and. those senators and Kumar Abrego Garcia. and James Comey and Letitia James, all. these people who Trump has attacked, but. in fact, is is the goal for the Trump.

administration to win these cases or is. it just to make life as miserable as. humanly possible by by using, you know, using the DOJ as a cudgel against. Trump's political enemies?" Yeah, it's a. great point because all is not well and. good regardless of judges who do the. right thing. >> Right. I mean, if you end up in the. crosshairs of the Department of Justice, I don't I I can't imagine a world where. where your life is any easier than it. was the day before. No, all is not well.

and good. There's plenty that's rotten. in DC courtesy of Donald Trump and his. flunkies. So, you're exactly right. It's. It's the the sort of pain and the. anguish, not only to these defendants, but to their families and their. communities by having a president of the. United States vindictively going after. them, even if there is no prospect of a. successful prosecution. And Brian, I. don't wish a vindictive prosecution on. anybody, but there's a fringe benefit um. to, I think, all of the American people.

and to American democracy because what. it does is it highlights Donald Trump's. weakness, his, you know, inability to. follow through on his threats to. prosecute people. Again, that's little. consolation to the people who have to. hire lawyers, spend sleepless nights. wondering and worrying about what's. going to happen, preparing for court. But, I'll tell you, there is no sure. sign that Donald Trump is a really. crappy dictator or aspiring dictator.

than the fact that he can't even. prosecute somebody vindictively. You. know, there's a parallel. He wanted. Jimmy Kimmel off the air permanently. He. couldn't even keep a comedian off air. for a week. That is a weak-ass dictator, and that is good for the American people. to see because it will expose him as the. paper tiger he is, and that will make. his threats even sort of less serious, and will and they will mean less to the.

people that he threatens moving forward. But, a couple of really important. takeaways. One is that the courts. continue to hold strong. I mean, judges. from coast to coast, trial courts, courts of appeal, everybody but those. sort of six compromised Supreme Court. justices, the the federal judges are. holding strong and pushing back against. Donald Trump's lawlessness. And Brian, here's the last takeaway, and frankly, I. think this is one of the most important. things we can take away from this whole.

saga of Abrego Garcia. If this young. Venezuelan immigrant can fight the Trump. administration, DHS, the Department of. Justice from a prison in El Salvador and. win, and he can be brought back and he. can fight them in court in Maryland, and. he can fight them in court in Tennessee, and he can win, we can certainly fight and win. Fight to. protect the rights our own rights and. the rights of all people in the United. States. And I'll tell you, that is an.

important lesson that we can all learn. from Abrego Garcia. Perfect place to. leave off. Again, for those who are. watching, if you want to stay on top of. this case and all other legal news, the. best way to do that is to subscribe to. both of our channels. I'm going to put. those links right here on the screen and. also in the post description. Again, 100% free. All you got to do is hit the. subscribe button. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen. And I'm Glenn Kirschner. You're watching. the Legal Breakdown.