U.S. District Court Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Wednesday heard testimony from a former top Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) official and the Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee over the request by Kilmar Abrego Garcia for the court to drop his human smuggling case for vindictive prosecution.
The first witness to testify was Rana Saoud, who recently retired after serving in federal law enforcement for decades, including most recently as the HSI Special Agent in Charge for the agency’s Nashville office.
Saoud told the court that she first learned of the November 2022 traffic stop of Abrego Garcia by Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) on April 27, 2025, when someone sent her a news article published by The Tennessee Star, who first publicly reported the incident that month.
Though Saoud did not confirm which article from The Star she reviewed, she received the information only weeks after The Star reported that a THP spokesman confirmed Abrego Garcia was released at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI,” and a U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) document confirmed troopers suspected human trafficking.
As she learned of Abrego Garcia’s 2022 brush with state law enforcement through public reporting, Saoud said her office would not have filed charges against Garcia without additional investigation.
“If the facts did not add up, we would have ceased to move forward,” with the investigation, she stated. As HSI investigated, however, “The case just kept getting stronger.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire testified next, telling the court that he learned of the 2022 traffic stop from Saoud, who he said contacted him to relay what she learned from The Star on April 27.
McGuire said it was the same date that he began correspondence about Abrego Garcia with Aakash Singh, an Associate at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) under Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche.
Though McGuire stated that he personally viewed the charges as worthy of pursuing, and felt no pressure from his superiors at the DOJ, the defense attorneys for Abrego Garcia appeared to suggest McGuire brought charges to secure his continued employment under the Trump administration.
McGuire was also asked about the decision by the former head of his office’s criminal division, Ben Schrader, to quit over his opposition to the case against Abrego Garcia. He answered by describing Schrader as a friend and colleague before expressing disappointment over his decision to resign.
Prosecutors previously confirmed they expected Schrader would be called to testify by Abrego Garcia’s defense attorneys at the hearing, but it concluded without his presence.
Crenshaw, who was appointed to the federal bench by former President Barack Obama, ordered both the prosecution and defense to submit a post-hearing brief to the court. Once the transcript of the hearing is completed, both sides will have 30 days to complete their filings.
Originally deported in March 2025 amid controversy, Abrego Garcia was returned to Tennessee last June, when the DOJ unsealed its indictment accusing him of spending nearly a decade embroiled in a human smuggling ring.
He pleaded not guilty, and was originally scheduled for trial in January, before Crenshaw canceled the trial date in order to determine whether the case should be tossed for vindictive prosecution.
Abrego Garcia was granted pretrial release in Tennessee last year, but was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) until December, when another Obama-appointed jurist ordered him to be released. He was in court with his wife on Thursday.
The Star was recognized for its reporting on Abrego Garcia with the Dao Prize for Best Local Journalism last year.
– – –
Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
I agree with Debbie. The guy had been given a final order for deportation but did not leave on his own. We have wasted too much time and tax dollars on tis thug.
He doesn’t know anyone or have important allies, he’s got a team of leftist law firms providing free legal services to help the Democrats keep their replacement electorate. Because Abrego Garcia was one of the first high profile illegals to be deported, he’s become some sort of poster child for obstructing Trump’s deportation agenda and tying up numerous people in the DOJ, HSI, DHS etc. You have to remember, rich global elites and a handful of huge nonprofits set aside millions of dollars in funding specifically for law firms to fight against Trump’s deportations- this case is but 1 of many!
I can’t even imagine how much money and how many law firms the Democrats invested to argue in favor of birthright citizenship before the Supreme Court. That ruling is supposed to come out soon and after SCOTUS’s ruling against Trump on tariffs, I’m not very optimistic.
The evidence will all show his deportation was legitimate and the judge will still rule that the United States cannot deport him, must release him immediately, fully reimburse his legal expenses and financially compensate him for this CLEAR CUT CASE OF VINDICTIVE PROSECUTION!!
Because with these black robed activists masquerading as impartial judges, facts, evidence, our laws and the constitution don’t matter, they are solely interested in ruling against Trump and/or advancing the left’s agenda.
Get this person out of our country. We have wasted enough time on this problem. All I can say is he has friends in high places or He knows something that could make someones life a train wreak. He is not worth the trouble.