00:02The Justice Department is now trying to revive its human smuggling case against Kilmar Abrego
00:08Garcia. And the fight now centers on why prosecutors brought the case in the first
00:13place. Abrego Garcia is the Salvadoran man the Trump administration wrongfully deported last
00:19year before he was returned to the U.S. Prosecutors later charged him with two human smuggling counts
00:25stemming from a 2022 traffic stop in Tennessee. He has pleaded not guilty. But in May, a federal
00:32judge dismissed the case, finding that Abrego Garcia had shown the prosecution was vindictive.
00:38Now the Justice Department is asking the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to reinstate the charges.
00:44In a filing Monday, DOJ argues prosecutors brought the case because the evidence supported it
00:50and says the judge went too far in questioning their motives. Abrego Garcia's lawyers called
00:56that argument flat wrong. They say the case was retaliation for his successful fight against
01:01his deportation. For now, the charges remain dismissed. His lawyers will respond before
01:07the appeals court decides whether to revive the case.
