On Friday, Obama-appointed Federal Judge Waverly Crenshaw dismissed the human smuggling charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia, but NBC’s Saturday Today co-host Laura Jarrett simply referred to him as “a federal judge.” Naturally, she also omitted that Crenshaw had donated around $43,000 prior to his appointment.
During a quick rundown of the day’s headlines, Jarrett simply declared, “A federal judge in Tennessee now dismissing all criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday, who became associated with President Trump’s deportation campaign.”
Let’s play a game of Name That Party. NBC’s Laura Jarrett reports, “A federal judge in Tennessee now dismissing all criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday, who became associated with President Trump’s deportation campaign. The judge finding that the Trump… pic.twitter.com/5WqbJmWWPB
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) May 23, 2026
Jarrett then doubled down on the omission, “The judge finding that the Trump administration brought human smuggling charges against him only to justify the government’s decision to deport him to El Salvador back in April of 2025.”
She also recalled, “The Supreme Court ruled that the United States had to bring him back because a 2019 court order prevented him from being deported to his home country in the first place. Garcia immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. The Justice Department plans to appeal.”
It is interesting that Crenshaw’s ruling on the presumption of vindictiveness did not actually address the substance of the charges. It was not that long ago that various Democratic local prosecutors were running around campaigning on the idea of indicting Trump. For the media, that was also mostly a non-issue. However, when it comes to judges and justices doing things liberals don’t like, the media suddenly becomes a fan of labeling.
Here is a transcript for the May 23 show:
NBC Today
5/23/2026
7:31 PM ET
LAURA JARRETT: A federal judge in Tennessee now dismissing all criminal charges against Kilmar Abrego Garcia on Friday, who became associated with President Trump’s deportation campaign. The judge finding that the Trump administration brought human smuggling charges against him only to justify the government’s decision to deport him to El Salvador back in April of 2025. The Supreme Court ruled that the United States had to bring him back because a 2019 court order prevented him from being deported to his home country in the first place. Garcia immigrated to the U.S. illegally as a teenager. The Justice Department plans to appeal.
Discussion about this post