Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) cast doubt on the prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia upon his return to the U.S. following his mistaken deportation to El Salvador, claiming that “charges are not evidence.”
“These charges have to be regarded with a very hefty dose of skepticism, in light of the timing, and all of the attendant circumstances,” Blumenthal said during a Friday night appearance on CNN’s “The Source.“ “The administration has no right to bring charges simply as an offramp, or a face-saver. And now it’s going to have to, in effect, put up and shut up, put its evidence where its mouth is.”
“And I’ve heard again and again and again, as a prosecutor, as a United States attorney, federal prosecutor, as well as state attorney general, charges are not evidence,” he told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins. “And so far, we’ve seen no evidence.”
Abrego Garcia, a Salvadorian national, who entered the U.S. illegally, was brought back by the Trump administration to the U.S. on Friday. He was hit with a two-count indictment, one for conspiracy and another for unlawful transportation of undocumented aliens. Abrego Garcia, who was mistakenly deported earlier this year to El Salvador, is accused by prosecutors of making over 100 trips from Texas to other states in prior years, transporting migrants for payments.
The probe originates from when Abrego Garcia was pulled over by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in late 2022 for speeding. The van was full of passengers without any luggage, prompting questions from the officer on-site, according to the video of the stop. Abrego Garcia said to authorities that he was transporting construction workers to Missouri, but in reality was transporting undocumented migrants, the indictment alleges.
“For the last 2 months, the media and Democrats have burnt to the ground any last shred of credibility they had left as they glorified Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a known MS13 gang member, human trafficker, and serial domestic abuser,” the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Kristi Noem said in a statement to The Hill on Saturday.
“Now, the United States of America confronts Kilmar Abrego Garcia with overwhelming evidence— he is being indicted by a grand jury for human smuggling, including children, and conspiracy. Justice awaits this Salvadoran man,” Noem added.
Blumenthal on Friday said the administration could have returned Abrego Garcia sooner after the Supreme Court ordered the White House to “faciliate” his return in April.
“The highest court in the land ordered the U.S. government, two months ago, to return him. And it had the power to do so. It failed,” the senator said. “It didn’t actually indict him, until a couple of weeks ago. It only unsealed the indictment, last Friday. But it’s based on a supposed stop that happened three years ago. So, they have been building a case.”
“They could have brought him back,” Blumenthal added. “The failure to do so is not what American justice should look like.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said during a press conference on Friday that after serving his sentence, if convicted in the case, Abrego Garcia, would be brought back to El Salvador.
One of Tennessee’s top federal prosecutor, Ben Schrader, who was recently the chief of the criminal division, resigned, ABC News reported Friday, over concerns that the criminal case was conducted for political reasons.
Multiple courts have ordered the administration, including the Supreme Court, to return Abrego Garcia.
Blumenthal raised concerns over Schrader’s resignation and argued that there should be an “investigation here, about exactly why this administration defied the United States Supreme Court, why it delayed this indictment, why it is failing to be forthcoming to the Congress and the people of the United States.”
