Kilmar Abrego Garcia will soon be a free man. That's what a federal judge ruled today, dismissing all criminal charges against him for vindictive or selective prosecution. Truly a historic ruling. You may not hear Kilmar's name in the news much anymore, but this is a news story that has never gone away, and it's one that I've never stopped following.
At the same time, get ready for what looks to be a very busy weekend. Donald Trump isn't attending his son's wedding. Donald Trump Jr. in the Bahamas. That may seem innocuous at first, but he's also, in the past hour, changed his travel plans. He'll no longer go to Bedminster, his golf club in New Jersey, to go golfing. He'll be at the White House all weekend, and what that tells me: Iran, Cuba. We're watching it all, and it's going to be a very busy weekend. I'll be covering it live for you all weekend, so make sure to subscribe to my Substack link below to support my work and also keep me caffeinated in what will be a very busy weekend.
At the same time today, the Trump administration has radically changed the way you apply for a green card. You're now going to have to leave the United States to do so. Many say that this is going to fundamentally impact hundreds of thousands of people and employers alike.
I want to begin by talking about the major decision today, the Kilmar Abrego Garcia decision. A federal judge concluded, quote, "What the government has chosen not to do is as telling as what it has. Government's post-hearing brief mentions Blanche once in a parenthetical. Mentions the Supreme Court's ruling once in a footnote. It mentions Singh 11 times, framing him as the recipient of these updates, talking about the back and forth between DOJ officials. The reopening of the closed HSI investigation is the source of the vindictiveness. Todd Blanche's public statements about the investigation and Singh's involvement tie Main Justice to the reopened investigation and indictment. After the indictment became a reality, the government ignores the testimony that Main Justice caused Abrego Garcia's return to the United States as the District of Maryland had long required. The government's rebuttal to the presumption of vindictiveness does not engage with that evidence as a matter of logic. The government cannot rebut the presumption when it does not address the evidence supporting the presumption."
It goes on to say, "The evidence before the court sadly reflects an abuse of prosecuting power. The court does not reach its conclusion lightly. The objective standard here shows that absent Kilmar Abrego Garcia's lawsuit challenging his removal to El Salvador, the government would not have brought this prosecution. The executive branch closed its investigation on the November 2022 traffic stop only after Abrego Garcia succeeded in vindicating his rights did the executive branch reopen the investigation. What the government labels as new evidence was not new as a matter of law. The prosecutor's objective good faith does not cure the retaliatory taint. Absent Blanche's tainted investigation, the agent would not have called the DOJ, and the DOJ would not have brought him into the fold and would not have sought an indictment against Abrego. The indictment then provided the executive branch cover to comply with the Maryland judge's order to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return to the United States as soon as possible. The motion to dismiss must be granted."
A federal judge ruled that the human trafficking-related charges that the Trump administration's DOJ brought against Kilmar Abrego Garcia after returning him back to the United States of America from the torture facility in CECOT in El Salvador, well, those charges now must be dismissed completely. And that right there is significant. Now, it also comes amid Donald Trump likely taking action on either Iran, Cuba, or both this weekend.
Today Trump announced that he will not be attending his son Don Jr.'s wedding in the Bahamas. That may not seem like a big deal on its face. There were even jokes about Trump's relationship with his son and why he wouldn't go, yada yada yada. Apparently, they're essentially going to have a small wedding in the Bahamas, right? You may think that's not a big deal. Okay, fine.
But we also learned today, well, that Trump's schedule is changing. And let me show you. This was the old schedule. Okay? Or rather, this was the old schedule. You had him at the end departing his New York rally this afternoon en route to Bedminster, New Jersey golf club, where he would play golf and spend the weekend. But this has changed. Now, he's going back to the White House. So, I expect a very long weekend ahead. It seems like every Saturday, for example, right now, we have a major news update regarding a war. We had Venezuela early on. We had Iran then, February 28th. And this weekend looks like it's going to be a very busy one as it relates to international and foreign policy. Here's what Marco Rubio had to say when asked about Iran.
I'm trying to bring the war to an end. Well, the primary interlocutor on this has been Pakistan and continues to be, and they've done a, you know, I think an admirable job. And that's what we continue to work through. Obviously, other countries, you know, have interests because especially Gulf countries that are, you know, in the middle of all this may have their own situation going on. We talk to all of them.
I'm trying to bring the war to an end. Well, the primary interlocutor on this has been Pakistan and continues to be, and they... I would just say that the primary country we've been working with on all of this is Pakistan, and that remains the case. And it's my understanding he was supposed to go yesterday, but could be as early as today that Field Marshal Munir could be traveling there very, very soon. And we're in constant communication with him at the highest levels of our government, constantly talking to him.
