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Beans Talk | Is Blanche In Trouble?
00:08:26
Monday, May 25th 2026 Blanche's Mistakes Lead To Case Dismissal
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- [00:02]
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Hey Everybody, it's Monday, May 25, 2026. I'm Alison Gill, and this is Beans Talk. Welly, welly, welly, well, well, well. Todd Blanche may be in a bit of trouble, which pleases me. Now, you know he's been butt snorkeling for the Attorney General position for the past few months, bringing stupid cases like seashells and sandwiches and creating illegal slush funds to pay terrorists like January 6th rioters. But try as he might, he could not put Kilmar Abrego Garcia in prison. On Friday, Judge Waverly Crenshaw in the District of Tennessee dismissed the human smuggling charges against Mr. Abrego State, saying that the government failed to rebut the presumption of vindictive prosecution. That's an important distinction we'll talk about in a minute. But the charges were brought against Mr. Abrego for a 2022 Tennessee traffic stop during which he didn't get so much as a traffic ticket. He was let go. That case was closed and it was only opened up after a Maryland judge named Polissini ordered that Mr. Abrego be returned to the United States after he was abducted in March of 2025 with 200 plus others who were put on a plane two planes bound for El Salvador Seacote Prison at Judge Judge Boasberg ordered those planes turned around, but Emil Bovey told lawyers at the Department of Justice to instruct the courts to fuck off. That's a direct quote, according to a whistleblower named Arez Raveni. We've talked about his report on these podcasts as so Todd Blanch himself made an appearance on Laura Ingram show the Ingram angle on Fox News and said with his own mouth that they were charging Mr. Abrego because that Maryland judge did him dirty and that that utterance is what made the judge in Mr. Abrego's criminal case rule that there was a presumption of vindictiveness. That's a really, really important thing, because, first of all, getting charges dropped on vindictive prosecution grounds is extremely rare and extremely difficult. And in fact, in this case, the judge determined that the behavior of the Department of Justice doesn't actually amount to vindictive prosecution. But let me explain why the charges were dismissed anyway. But I need to, like, kind of tell you how this process works. First, it's up to the defendant to show vindictiveness. Then, if a judge issues a presumption of vindictiveness order, says, you know, based on the evidence that you've shown me, after hearings and testimony and filings and briefings, I think that there's a presumption of vindictiveness here. And that's what Crenshaw did pursuant to Todd Blanche running his mouth on Fox News. That one thing that he said on Fox News alone said that that is enough for the court to find a presumption of vindictiveness. Now, once you have a presumption of vindictiveness, the burden shifts off of Mr. Abrego and on to the government, meaning Mr. Abrego no longer has to prove vindictiveness. He has. If there's a presumption of vindictiveness finding, he's done his job. Now it shifts to the government to prove vindictive. They were not being vindictive. The burden of proof shifts to the government. And in this case, the government failed to show that they failed to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness. This is from the ruling. While the court finds insufficient evidence of actual vindictiveness, the court concludes that the government has failed to rebut the presumption of vindictiveness. The evidence it labels as newly discovered was available to be obtained with due diligence long before April 2025. Even more, it does not explain the government's change in position to remove Abrego and not prosecute him. To then prosecute and not remove him. Maguire's subjective explanations also do not cure the retaliatory taint that set the investigation and resulting indictment in motion. Because of the presumption of vindictiveness remains. Because it remains unrebutted, the indictment must be dismissed. And this isn't just Todd Blanche's fault. Because he ran his mouth on Fox News, he also started the investigation into Abrego. Look at this quote. In sum, the government's Explanation gets the sequence backwards. Instead of investigating the November 2022 traffic stop to identify who was responsible for the human smuggling, bragging Blanche started the investigation to implicate Abrego. He did so to justify the executive branch's decision to remove him to El Salvador. The tainted investigation identified the long existing body camera video, the THP report, Hernandez Reyes and his phone data. And McGuire's decision to prosecute was based on that evidence given to him by his direct supervisor, Boy Blanche and Singh. Neither body of evidence rebuts the existing presumption of vindictiveness because the evidence that the government points to confirms the decisions that it already made. Rather than justifying them, it fails to rebut the presumption that those decisions were, in fact, vindictive. And here's how the judge wraps it up. Crenshaw says, quote, the court does not reach its conclusion lightly. The objective evidence here shows that absent Abrego's successful 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 succeeded in vindicating his rights did the executive branch reopen that investigation. What the government labels as new evidence was not new. As a matter of law, the prosecutor's subjective good faith does not cure the retaliatory taint. Absent Blanche's tainted investigation, Agent Saud would not have called McGuire. Singh would not have brought him into the fold, and McGuire would have not sought an indictment against Abrego. The indictment then provided the executive branch cover to comply with Judge Sinas order to facilitate Abrego's return to the United States. As soon as possible, Abrego's motion to dismiss the indictment must be granted. So, Todd, you can bring all the seashell and sandwich cases you want. You can start all the $1.8 billion slush funds you want. But your misconduct and your big mouth is why Mr. Abrego is a free man. So we'll see if you get that Attorney General job you've been angling for. Anyone, Anyone that confirms him has to be voted out of the Senate. If, in fact, he's nominated. I think this could hurt his chances. It is because of Todd Blanche
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that
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Mr. Abrego is free. And I should say, Mr. Abrego's bravery and resilience and his incredible lawyers, including Sean Hecker. I know I don't want to give all the credit to Todd Blanche being an idiot, but this is. It's. He's the one who. Who screwed this up and. And made it so these incredible lawyers representing Mr. Abrego could get these. These charges dismissed. So. All right, everybody, thank you so much for watching. I will be back tomorrow. Dana will be back soon, I promise. I'm Allison Gill, and that was Beans Talk.
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S beans. Daily beans.
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History is messy. It's weird, wild, and anything but boring. Rainy Day Rabbit Holes is a history podcast about unhinged stories that make you stop and ask, wait, is this real life? From crazy disasters and tasty scandals to enlightening and surprising, heartwarming tales, we explore the moments where people behave badly and sometimes beautifully. We've got naughty politicians, cultural chaos, and a deep love for the Pacific Northwest, including Bigfoot. It's thoughtful, irreverent, occasionally serious, and always entertaining. Let's fall down the Rabbit hole.
- [09:42]
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MSW.