Washington DC - President Donald Trump's administration tried to paint Kilmar Abrego Garcia as a "gang leader," despite having no evidence against the wrongfully deported man, emails provided by a Justice Department whistleblower showed.

Communications presented to Congress and seen by the New Republic featured top officials across multiple government agencies trying to figure out how they could claim in court that the Maryland father was actually a leader of Salvadoran gang MS-13.

The emails were presented by Erez Reuveni, a long-time Justice Department employee who was fired after expressing serious doubts over Abrego Garcia's deportation to El Salvador.

With the Trump administration scrambling to defend its decision, despite admitting it had been made in "error" and being ordered to facilitate Abrego Garcia's return, a senior Homeland Security official suggested calling the 29-year-old "a leader of MS-13."

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In the email chain, an unnamed ICE employee responded that, although he had seen absolutely no evidence for the claim, he would "keep looking."

Reuveni repeatedly complained about the approach to Abrego Garcia's case and ultimately refused to sign a legal brief accusing him of being an MS-13 member, for which he was placed on administrative leave. He filed an official whistleblower complaint in June.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, has continued its relentless smear campaign against Abrego Garcia, whose case has attracted national attention and at one point featured the president himself peddling obviously doctored evidence on live TV.

After being returned from El Salvador's notorious CECOT prison – where he alleges he was tortured – Abrego Garcia has been kept in detention on new charges: human smuggling.