The U.S. Department of Justice has sidelined one of its attorneys following sharp criticism from a federal judge over the wrongful deportation of a man to El Salvador—a move the judge described as "entirely lawless."

In a dramatic courtroom moment on Friday, U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis ordered that Kilmar Abrego Garcia be returned to Maryland by Monday night, despite the DOJ’s assertion that it lacked the authority to retrieve someone from a foreign country.

When pressed by the court on why the government couldn't bring Abrego Garcia back, DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni admitted he’d posed that exact question to his superiors but had yet to receive a satisfying response. “I’ve not received, to date, an answer that I find satisfactory,” he told the court.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed on Fox News Sunday that Reuveni had been removed from the case and placed on administrative leave. "This matter is ongoing, but you have to advocate forcefully for your client," Bondi said, emphasizing that Deputy U.S. Attorney Todd Blanche made the decision to suspend Reuveni on Saturday.

The Trump administration acknowledged to the court that Abrego Garcia had been mistakenly deported, despite an explicit court order barring his removal. In a written explanation issued Sunday, Judge Xinis stated that the government had no lawful basis for arresting, detaining, or deporting him—and that no evidence existed to suggest Abrego Garcia was a criminal suspect in El Salvador. “His detention appears wholly lawless,” she wrote.

The administration has since filed an appeal in the case.