Emil Bove, now a nominee to the federal bench, proposed defying court orders, former DOJ colleague says

Politico

6 hours ago

A top Justice Department official who has been nominated for a federal judgeship suggested to colleagues that the administration would defy court orders in order to carry out President Donald Trump's aggressive plan for mass deportations, according to a whistleblower letter submitted by another attorney who was present.
The official, Emil Bove, proposed ignoring court orders as administration lawyers strategized in March over expected legal challenges to the president's plan to assert wartime powers to rapidly deport some immigrants, according to the account from Erez Reuveni, who was fired from his Justice Department post in April.
Reuveni said the episode was followed by a series of attempts by DOJ officials to thwart court orders in at least three immigration-related cases. When Reuveni urged his colleagues to correct course, he says he was 'threatened, fired and publicly disparaged.'
Reuveni submitted the 27-page letter through his attorneys Tuesday to the House and Senate judiciary committees and DOJ's inspector general. It was first reported by The New York Times.
Reuveni alleged that Bove, the principal associate deputy attorney general, suggested during a March 14 meeting that the administration would ignore court orders if they hindered a signature aspect of Trump's deportation agenda. The meeting, which was attended by DOJ's top immigration lawyers, was aimed at discussing Trump's plan to invoke wartime authority under the Alien Enemies Act to summarily deport to El Salvador about 130 Venezuelan men with alleged gang ties.
As the lawyers strategized over the administration's response to anticipated legal challenges, Bove made a startling suggestion, according to Reuveni.
'Bove stated that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts 'fuck you' and ignore any such court order,' Reuveni's attorneys wrote. 'Mr. Reuveni was stunned by Bove's statement because, to Mr. Reuveni's knowledge, no one in DOJ leadership — in any Administration — had ever suggested the Department of Justice could blatantly ignore court orders, especially with a 'fuck you.''
Bove previously served as a criminal defense attorney for Trump before being tapped for the high-ranking DOJ position. Last month, Trump nominated Bove for a seat on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. He is scheduled to face questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who had been co-counsel with Bove in Trump's criminal cases, swiftly denied Reuveni's account, describing him as a 'disgruntled former employee.'
'The claims about Department of Justice leadership and the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General are utterly false,' Blanche said on X.
The account by Reuveni, who worked for the Justice Department for nearly 15 years and received commendations for his work on immigration litigation during the first Trump administration, seems certain to roil the hearing for his judicial nomination. If confirmed to the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit, Bove would hold a lifetime appointment on the powerful bench, with jurisdiction over appeals from Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and the Virgin Islands.
In his five months as Trump's enforcer at the Justice Department, Bove has repeatedly rankled and alarmed many career prosecutors at the department.
At least 10 prosecutors resigned after Bove ordered them to drop criminal charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Bove acknowledged that a key reason he wanted the charges dropped was so that the Democratic mayor would cooperate with federal authorities on Trump's immigration policy. And Bove's role in efforts to assemble a list of FBI agents and prosecutors who worked on Jan. 6 prosecutions similarly drew fierce pushback — and a lawsuit that remains pending.
Reuveni's allegations are likely to be of intense interest to at least three federal judges probing whether the Trump administration intentionally defied them.
U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the administration not to relinquish custody of immigrants who were deemed 'alien enemies' and hurriedly sent to El Salvador on March 15. Reuveni's letter alleges that Justice Department 'leadership' instructed counterparts at the departments of Homeland Security and State to disregard Boasberg's order.
'Agency counsel for DHS informed Mr. Reuveni by telephone that DOJ leadership had advised DHS to deplane the flights in El Salvador,' Reuveni's attorneys wrote. 'Through the course of the events on March 16 it became clear to Mr. Reuveni that DHS and DOS were receiving contrary directions from someone else to take actions in violation of court orders.'
Reuveni alleged that Bove was among lawyers who advised that officials could turn the deportees over to Salvadoran officials because Boasberg's initial order — while the planes were in the air — was delivered orally during a Zoom video conference, not in writing. Reuveni described a flurry of emails and calls among DOJ officials acknowledging Boasberg's oral order, but refusing to act on it.
In April, Boasberg found probable cause to conclude that officials committed contempt of court by defying his order. However, a federal appeals court has blocked him from taking further action to address the alleged contempt.
Reuveni also said the administration misled U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy when officials claimed that a round of deportations to El Salvador in March — in apparent violation of an order restricting such removals — was carried out by the Pentagon rather than DHS.
Lastly, Reuveni offered a detailed account of his role in the legal fight over the illegal deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who was deported to his home country on March 15 despite a court order prohibiting him from being sent there. Reuveni acknowledged the error in court — and was backed up by sworn statements from the Department of Homeland Security. He was publicly criticized by Trump, Attorney General Pam Bondi, and top White House officials, who falsely accused him of being the only official to label it an error.
Reuveni was put on administrative leave and quickly fired over the comments. U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis, whose April order to facilitate Abrego's release from custody in El Salvador was largely upheld by the Supreme Court, praised Reuveni for his candor. Abrego was returned to the United States earlier this month after the Trump administration secured a grand jury indictment against him for immigrant smuggling.