A legal advocacy group has asked the New York bar to investigate Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche for potential professional conduct violations tied to his role in the prosecution of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, according to a letter filed Wednesday by the Campaign for Accountability.
The request came days after U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw dismissed the federal indictment against Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man who had been living in Maryland with his wife and children before the Trump administration deported him to El Salvador's CECOT mega-prison in March of last year. The deportation occurred despite a 2019 court order barring his removal to that country due to fear of persecution. The administration had claimed Abrego Garcia was a member of the criminal gang MS-13, which he denies.
In his ruling on Friday, Judge Crenshaw wrote that the evidence showed the prosecution was retaliatory. "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," Crenshaw wrote.
The criminal charges stemmed from a November 2022 traffic stop. The Department of Homeland Security issued an April 2025 press release calling it a "bombshell investigative report" and alleging that Abrego Garcia was a suspected human trafficker. The release included a screengrab of body camera footage from the stop.
Crenshaw found the timing of the reopened investigation significant. The DHS agent's decision to revisit a closed investigation, combined with what Crenshaw called "now unrebutted public statements tying the reopened investigation" to Abrego Garcia's lawsuit, was enough to taint the case. "Instead of investigating the November 2022 traffic stop to identify who was responsible for the human smuggling, Blanche started the investigation to implicate Abrego," Crenshaw wrote. "He did so to justify the Executive Branch's decision to remove him to El Salvador."
Abrego Garcia was brought back to the United States in June to face the human smuggling charges in Tennessee. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis released him from ICE detention while he awaited trial.
In its letter, the Campaign for Accountability said Blanche may have violated several rules within the New York Rules of Professional Conduct, including rules "prohibiting dishonesty, conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, and the use of criminal charges to gain an advantage in a civil matter."
Campaign for Accountability Executive Director Michelle Kuppersmith said in the letter that a federal judge found Blanche personally launched a criminal prosecution not to enforce the law, but to provide cover for the administration after Abrego Garcia fought against his deportation.
