Mar-a-Lago lawyer turned DOJ bigwig threatens to sprint to appeals court for 'extraordinary' relief if judge tries to force Todd Blanche to testify under oath

A recently confirmed DOJ associate attorney general of note has joined the fight backing Todd Blanche against Kilmar Abrego Garcia's attempt to force the deputy attorney general, a former fellow Mar-a-Lago prosecution defense attorney, to testify under oath pursuant to a subpoena at a scheduled vindictive prosecution evidentiary hearing next week.

Stanley Woodward, Jr., known for representing President Donald Trump's former co-defendant Walt Nauta and, separately, FBI Director Kash Patel, signed and submitted court documents Thursday warning U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw that the DOJ swiftly intends to seek "extraordinary" mandamus relief at the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals should the judge actually consider refusing to quash subpoenas.

The five-page filing, with Woodward the lead name in the signature block, told Crenshaw, a Barack Obama appointee, that if the judge does what he should not do — allowing the "smuggling illegal aliens" defendant to overcome the Trump administration's executive privilege claims by forcing the testimony of Blanche, Associate Deputy Attorney General Aakash Singh, Blanche's counselor James McHenry — then the jurist can expect the DOJ to request a writ of mandamus.

The writ of mandamus, the same relief the DOJ has sought to shut down a federal judge's order compelling a border patrol chief to provide daily updates on uses of force in Illinois, would argue that such a move by Crenshaw amounts to a "judicial usurpation" or a "clear abuse of discretion."

"It is no answer to say, as Defendant does, that the subpoenas are justified because the Court has concluded that he has shown some evidence of vindictiveness," the filing said. "Defendant has still failed to comply with other important safeguards essential to the separation of powers, including the requirement that the subpoena set out with specificity the information it seeks."

"And, in any event, there is no basis for piercing the privileges here, where the evidence establishes that neither the Deputy Attorney General nor anyone in his Office directed" acting U.S. Attorney Robert McGuire's decision to pursue the indictment, Woodward added.

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Citing the "apex doctrine" to guard against a grilling of Blanche based on his high-ranking status, the DOJ warned that federal courts "have zealously applied this rule to protect the separation of powers, including through the extraordinary writ of mandamus."

"This case calls for the same result," Woodward added. "The Deputy Attorney General—the Department's Number 2—is plainly a high-ranking official protected by the apex doctrine."

Repeating arguments that Abrego Garcia hasn't come close to justifying this level of intrusion into the inner workings of the DOJ, Woodward said that if Crenshaw does not quash the subpoenas, the judge should "stay enforcement" so it could seek mandamus relief that would, if granted, put an end to the issue.

As recently as Wednesday, Abrego Garcia's lawyers needled the high-ranking DOJ officials for being "resolutely unwilling to show up" and not having the "courage to come to Court to defend themselves" and the government's "motivations" for bringing a criminal case the defense seeks to dismiss.

"[T]he government's bizarre claim that it is 'unknown altogether' what testimony Mr. Blanche might be asked to give is impossible to take seriously," the filing said. "Mr. Blanche publicly claimed to know all about the motivations for this case. This Court has held that those motivations are a central issue at the upcoming hearing, and has already made clear that Mr. Blanche's testimony is relevant."

Then, on Thursday, the defense suggested that Crenshaw should see the DOJ as stonewalling, find that the "presumption" of vindictiveness "stands" and toss out the indictment, perhaps without bothering to hold a hearing on Nov. 4.