Stanley Woodward Supports Todd Blanche in High-Stakes Legal Battle with Abrego Garcia

A recently appointed associate attorney general at the Department of Justice has stepped into the legal fray, supporting Todd Blanche in opposing Kilmar Abrego Garcia’s efforts to compel the deputy attorney general to testify under oath. Garcia seeks this testimony via a subpoena in an upcoming evidentiary hearing focused on alleged vindictive prosecution, scheduled for next week.

Stanley Woodward, Jr., recognized for his legal representation of Walt Nauta, a former co-defendant of President Donald Trump, and FBI Director Kash Patel, filed court papers on Thursday. In these documents, Woodward cautioned U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw that the DOJ plans to urgently pursue “extraordinary” mandamus relief from the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals if the judge considers denying the motion to quash the subpoenas.

In the five-page submission, with Woodward prominently listed, he informed Crenshaw, who was appointed by Barack Obama, that should the judge permit the defendant accused of smuggling illegal aliens to bypass the Trump administration’s executive privilege by compelling testimony from Blanche, Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh, and Blanche’s counselor James McHenry, the DOJ will likely seek a writ of mandamus.

The writ of mandamus, which the DOJ has previously pursued to counter a federal judge’s mandate requiring the border patrol chief to report daily on force usage in Illinois, would argue that such an action by Crenshaw constitutes “judicial usurpation” or a “clear abuse of discretion.”

“The argument that the subpoenas are warranted because the Court has identified some evidence of vindictiveness does not suffice,” the filing stated. “The defendant has not adhered to critical safeguards crucial to the separation of powers, including the necessity for the subpoena to precisely state the information it seeks.”

“And, in any event, there is no basis for piercing the privileges here, where the evidence establishes that neither the Deputy Attorney General nor anyone in his Office directed” acting U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire’s decision to pursue the indictment, Woodward added.

Citing the “apex doctrine” to guard against a grilling of Blanche based on his high-ranking status, the DOJ warned that federal courts “have zealously applied this rule to protect the separation of powers, including through the extraordinary writ of mandamus.”

“This case calls for the same result,” Woodward added. “The Deputy Attorney General—the Department’s Number 2—is plainly a high-ranking official protected by the apex doctrine.”

Repeating arguments that Abrego Garcia hasn’t come close to justifying this level of intrusion into the inner workings of the DOJ, Woodward said that if Crenshaw does not quash the subpoenas, the judge should “stay enforcement” so it could seek mandamus relief that would, if granted, put an end to the issue.

As recently as Wednesday, Abrego Garcia’s lawyers needled the high-ranking DOJ officials for being “resolutely unwilling to show up” and not having the “courage to come to Court to defend themselves” and the government’s “motivations” for bringing a criminal case the defense seeks to dismiss.

“[T]he government’s bizarre claim that it is ‘unknown altogether’ what testimony Mr. Blanche might be asked to give is impossible to take seriously,” the filing said. “Mr. Blanche publicly claimed to know all about the motivations for this case. This Court has held that those motivations are a central issue at the upcoming hearing, and has already made clear that Mr. Blanche’s testimony is relevant.”

Then, on Thursday, the defense suggested that Crenshaw should see the DOJ as stonewalling, find that the “presumption” of vindictiveness “stands” and toss out the indictment, perhaps without bothering to hold a hearing on Nov. 4.