Whistleblower: Trump judge nominee told DOJ lawyers to ignore court orders
A top Department of Justice official told department attorneys to ignore court orders barring President Trump from deporting immigrants, a whistleblower said on Tuesday.
Why it matters: The official in question, Emil Bove, is Trump's former personal attorney and a current Trump nominee for federal appeals court judge.
Driving the news: DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni and the whistleblower, identified as a fired DOJ lawyer, told the DOJ's internal watchdog and members of Congress in a letter that Bove told attorneys to consider telling judges "f––k you" in order "to implement the administration's removal priorities."
Those removal priorities include the Trump admin's efforts to deport immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act, which the Supreme Court blocked in March.
Bove, during a March 14 meeting with the whistleblower, Reuveni, and others in the department, "stressed to all in attendance that the planes [carrying the immigrants] needed to take off no matter what," per the letter.
"Mr. Reuveni, almost immediately after receiving notice of his promotion to serve as Acting Deputy Director of OIL, became aware of the plans of DOJ leadership to resist court orders that would impede potentially illegal efforts to deport noncitizens, and further became aware of the details to execute those plans," the letter states.
The letter comes as multiple federal judges have said that the DOJ has failed to comply with court orders and as the DOJ antagonizes judges who run afoul of the Trump admin.
Reuveni claims that following the meeting with Bove, he was involved in three separate cases involving immigration removal operations.
He said he witnessed "DOJ officials undermining the rule of law by ignoring court orders," the presentation of "'legal' arguments with no basis in law," and high-ranking DOJ and Homeland Security officials "misrepresenting facts presented before courts."
DOJ officials instructed him to "misrepresent facts in one of these cases in violation of Mr. Reuveni's legal and ethical duties," the letter said.
Reuveni said he was put on administrative leave by the DOJ then fired.
What they're saying: Sen. Dick Durbin, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, said in a statement Tuesday, "As a senior Justice Department official, Mr. Bove has abused his position in numerous ways, including firing January 6 prosecutors and agents and ordering career prosecutors to dismiss charges against Eric Adams for blatantly corrupt reasons, among other troubling actions."
The allegations "demonstrate that his activities are part of a broader pattern by President Trump and his allies to undermine the Justice Department's commitment to the rule of law," Durbin said.
"Mr. Reuveni's disclosures reveal a disturbing willingness by senior officials to undermine the rule of law for political ends," Dana Gold, the senior counsel and director of the Government Accountability Project's Democracy Protection Initiative, said in a statement.
The other side: Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche on X called Reuveni's claims "falsehoods" by "a disgruntled former employee and then leaked to the press in violation of ethical obligations."
"I was at the meeting described in the article and at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed. This is disgusting journalism," Blanche said, referring to The New York Times' initial coverage of the letter. "Planting a false hit piece the day before a confirmation hearing is something we have come to expect from the media, but it does not mean it should be tolerated."
Catch up quick: The DOJ's allegations against Reuveni include failure to "follow a directive" from superiors and failure to "zealously advocate" on behalf of the United States when he argued against Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia 's erroneous deportation.
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