In a motion filed June 11, attorneys for Kilmar Abrego Garcia asked the U.S. District Court in Maryland (Judge Paula Xinis) to hold the federal government in civil contempt, alleging a sustained a willful campaign to defy court orders and obstruct the discovery process.

At the center of the motion is the government’s alleged failure to comply with a Supreme Court-backed order requiring it to facilitate Abrego Garcia’s return and produce records explaining what steps it had taken to do so. Plaintiffs argue that for nearly two months, the government repeatedly flouted court directives: evading deadlines, producing almost no meaningful documents, asserting sweeping and unsupported claims of privilege, and fielding witnesses who either lacked personal knowledge or refused to answer questions.

“While the government was telling this Court one thing and the world something else, it was secretly working to charge Abrego Garcia with two felony immigration charges based on the alleged conduct that occurred years ago, and that it previously trumpeted in the media as justifying his removal. Although Attorney General Bondi declined, when asked by reporters, to state when the criminal investigation began, public reporting indicates that it started in April, around the same time that this court ordered an expedited discovery into the government’s apparent defiance of court orders. Moreover, even after the grand jury returned the indictment on May 21, the government represented to this court that plaintiff’s injuries were not redressable. That is, the government argued there was nothing it could do to return Abrego Garcia pursuant to this court’s order because he was “in the custody of El Salvador” so the court should just dismiss the case.”

Depositions of four high-ranking official, including DHS’s Acting General Counsel, yielded virtually nothing. Witnesses claimed ignorance of facts central to their sworn declarations and were instructed not to answer over 90 times. One deponent may have offered false testimony, as press reports suggest he privately acknowledged DHS had arranged for Abrego Garcia’s continued confinement in El Salvador, despite testifying otherwise.

The filing asks the court to impose strong sanctions. The lawyers portray a government operating in open defiance of the judiciary, not merely resisting discovery but actively concealing the truth and subverting the rule of law.