Latest news with #ErezReuveni
CBS News
6 hours ago
- Politics
- CBS News
Justice Dept. whistleblower details senior officials' efforts to stonewall judges, ignore decisions
An ousted Justice Department attorney told Congress that senior department officials, including a former acting deputy attorney general, discussed defying federal court orders and withholding information from judges to advance the Trump administration's immigration priorities, according to a whistleblower complaint filed Tuesday. The attorney, Erez Reuveni, a veteran of over 14 years at the department who had been praised and promoted for his service, was put on leave and then fired earlier this year after his attorneys say he pushed back against three different Justice Department attempts to "defy" immigration-related court orders "through lack of candor, deliberate delay, and disinformation." While Reuveni has not spoken publicly about his departure, a whistleblower report sent to senior congressional leadership by his attorneys details how he says he was "threatened, fired, and publicly disparaged" in his final weeks in the department after he questioned instructions from top Justice Department officials to ignore court orders and misrepresent facts in court in three separate, high-profile standoffs between the department and federal judges over immigration cases. Among those officials was the No. 3 Justice Department official, Emil Bove. Bove nominated in May by President Trump to sit on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals and is scheduled to appear for his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Before his stint as a top Justice Department official, Bove represented Mr. Trump in his criminal trial in Manhattan last year. Reuveni's attorneys described in his complaint a meeting with Justice Department officials about contesting possible court orders blocking deportations under the Alien Enemies Act. He alleged that Bove, who at the time was principal assistant deputy attorney general, said that the department "would need to consider telling the courts 'f*** you' and ignore any such court order," and that the deportation "planes needed to take off no matter what." "Mr. Reuveni was in disbelief," his attorneys wrote, adding that others in the room were "stunned" by the suggestion that the Justice Department would tell its clients in the government to disobey court rulings against the administration. A day after the meeting, the complaint said, a Washington, D.C., federal judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration's use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador and ordered planes carrying the men to return back to the U.S. The Trump administration did not reroute the flights. Reuveni also said that Drew Ensign, one of his supervisors, knowingly told a judge that he didn't know if more Alien Enemies Act removals were underway — even though Ensign was present for the Justice Department meeting when Bove told his team the deportations would continue. After repeatedly voicing concerns in phone calls and emails that the Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department had violated the court's orders by not returning the migrants, Reuveni said he received a phone call from a DHS attorney telling him to "consult DOJ leadership if he had any questions" about the decision. In a separate incident days later, Reuveni's attorneys allege that he was "told to stop asking questions" by senior Justice Department leaders after he attempted "to ascertain whether DOJ had violated a court order" in Massachusetts that blocked the removal of migrants to third-party countries with no due process, after he saw evidence that the removals were still underway. The complaint says that Yakov Roth, an assistant attorney general, called Reuveni to tell him that "Bove was very unhappy" that he was looking into why the removals had continued, in spite of a nationwide injunction blocking them. And in April, Reuveni unsuccessfully argued in defense of the controversial and mistaken deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, admitting in court that the man "should not have been removed" from the U.S. to El Salvador. In the days leading up to an initial hearing in Abrego Garcia's case, Reuveni's attorneys say he "repeatedly and consistently requested updates on efforts to secure Mr. Abrego Garcia's return to the U.S. and assurances of his safety," in the Salvadoran supermax prison where he was being detained. Those efforts were stonewalled, the attorneys say, after Reuveni was told by his bosses to "stop asking for facts supporting any possible defense of the case," despite raising "concerns in multiple emails to both DHS and DOS about the sufficiency of the evidence to support Mr. Abrego Garcia's alleged gang affiliation and the lack of action to correct his erroneous removal." After Reuveni conceded in court that Abrego Garcia should not have been removed, a Maryland judge ordered him to be returned to the United States. As a result, a supervisor told Reuveni that the White House had questions as to why he didn't argue that Abrego Garcia was an alleged gang member and that the removal was justified, despite a court order to the contrary. Hours later, department leadership asked Reuveni to sign an appeal brief of the Maryland judge's order. He says he refused, telling a supervisor that he "didn't sign up to lie." Reuveni was placed on administrative leave shortly afterwards for, according to a letter signed by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, "failure to follow a directive from your superiors; failure to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States; and engaging in conduct prejudicial to your client." After the news that Reuveni had been put on leave became public, Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement to CBS News that "every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States. Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences." Less than a week later, Reuveni was fired. Reuveni's attorneys said that the consequences of the Justice Department actions alleged by Reuveni "have grave impacts not only for the safety of individuals removed from the country in violation of court orders, but also for the constitutional rights and protections of all persons – citizen and noncitizen alike – who are potential victims of flagrant, deliberate disregard of due process and the rule of law by the agency charged with upholding it." The whistleblower account was first reported by the New York Times. In a post on X following the article's publication, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said Reuveni's account contains "falsehoods purportedly made by a disgruntled former employee," and said he was in the meeting where Bove allegedly said he would not follow court orders. Blanche said that "at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed." The Justice Department also defended Bove's handling of the deportation cases. "Having entered office with a mandate to end the invasion of illegal alien criminals, Emil Bove has been a relentless advocate for the enforcement of our immigration laws and the removal of violent killers, terrorist gang leaders, and child predators, all of whom should never have been allowed to invade our borders, which is why Emil will be an outstanding federal judge to keep our country safe and uphold the rights of all Americans," the department said in a statement. A statement by Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said Reuveni's claims "not only speak to Mr. Bove's failure to fulfill his ethical obligations as a lawyer, but 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."
The Guardian
9 hours ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
DoJ leader suggested defying courts over deportations, whistleblower says
Emil Bove, the department's principal associate deputy attorney general, who Donald Trump nominated for the US court of appeals for the third circuit, reportedly said the Department of Justice 'would need to consider telling the courts 'fuck you'' when it came to orders blocking the deportation of undocumented people. Former attorney at the justice department, Erez Reuveni, claimed Bove said the agency should violate court orders. In a whistleblower letter to members of Congress first obtained by the New York Times, Reuveni painted the scene of a lawless justice department willingly to defy the courts and fire the people who stood in their way. '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,'' says the letter, written by his lawyers at the Government Accountability Project. The comments came in the context of Trump invoking the Alien Enemies Act to deport people on removal flights in mid-March, the letter contends, after Bove 'stressed to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what'. At the time of Bove's alleged comments, Reuveni, who was in the meeting, said he was in disbelief. But in the three weeks that followed, his disbelief became 'a relic of a different time' as the department undermined the courts and rule of law. In three separate cases Reuveni was involved in, he found 'internal efforts of DOJ and White House leadership to defy (court orders) through lack of candor, deliberate delay and disinformation'. Reuveni was a career attorney who had served across multiple administrations for 15 years in the department, including the first Trump administration. Reuveni says he directly witnessed and reported to his superiors a host of misconduct, including 'DOJ officials undermining the rule of law by ignoring court orders; DOJ officials presenting 'legal' arguments with no basis in law; high-ranking DOJ and DHS officials misrepresenting facts presented before courts; and DOJ officials directing Mr. Reuveni to misrepresent facts in one of these cases in violation of legal and ethical duties as an officer of the court'. Reuveni had notified the court in the case of Kilmar Ábrego García, the Maryland man erroneously deported to El Salvador who has since returned to the US, that Ábrego García's deportation had been a 'mistake'. He said he refused his superiors' directive to file a brief to the court that would have misrepresented the facts of the case. He was subsequently put on administrative leave and then terminated on 11 April. Trump administration officials have said Reuveni didn't 'vigorously' or 'zealously' defend his client, the United States. 'Discouraging clients from engaging in illegal conduct is an important part of the role of lawyer,' the whistleblower letter says. 'Mr. Reuveni tried to do so and was thwarted, threatened, fired, and publicly disparaged for both doing his job and telling the truth to the court.' Sign up to This Week in Trumpland A deep dive into the policies, controversies and oddities surrounding the Trump administration after newsletter promotion Bove is set for a confirmation hearing on his judicial nomination before the Senate judiciary committee on Wednesday, where the whistleblower's claims are sure to enter into questioning. The White House and justice department have denied Reuveni's claims, according to the New York Times. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general and Bove's boss, called Reuveni's accounts 'falsehoods purportedly made by a disgruntled former employee and then leaked to the press in violation of ethical obligations' and questioned the timing of its release ahead of Bove's confirmation hearing.
The Independent
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Independent
Justice Department official suggested ignoring court orders on deportations, whistleblower claims
A top Justice Department official suggested the Trump administration might have to ignore court orders as it prepared to deport Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members, a fired department lawyer alleged in a whistleblower complaint made public Tuesday. The whistleblower's claims about Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove come a day before Bove is set to face lawmakers Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become a federal appeals court judge. In a letter seeking a congressional and Justice Department watchdog investigation, the former government lawyer, Erez Reuveni, alleges he was pushed out and publicly disparaged after resisting efforts to defy judges and make arguments in court that were false or had no legal basis. The most explosive allegation in the letter from Reuveni's lawyers centers around a Justice Department meeting in March concerning President Donald Trump 's plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act over what the president claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Reuveni says Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could happen. Reuveni claims Bove used a profanity, saying the department would need to consider telling the courts "f— you," and 'ignore any such order,' according to the filing. "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" an expletive, the filing says. In the weeks following the meeting, Reuveni says he raised concerns in several cases about efforts to violate court orders through 'lack of candor, deliberate delay and disinformation.' Reuveni's claims were first reported Tuesday by The New York Times. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche called the allegations 'utterly false,' saying that he was at the March meeting and 'at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed.' '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,' Blanche wrote in a post on X. Reuveni had been promoted under the Trump administration to serve as acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation after working for the Justice Department for nearly 15 years under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Reuveni's firing came after he conceded in an April court hearing that a Salvadoran man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, should not have been deported to an El Salvador prison, and expressed frustration over a lack of information about the administration's actions. After that hearing, Reuveni says he refused to sign onto an appeal brief in Abrego Garcia's case that included arguments that were 'contrary to law, frivolous, and untrue." 'The consequences of DOJ's actions Mr. Reuveni reports have grave impacts not only for the safety of individuals removed from the country in violation of court orders, but also for the constitutional rights and protections of all persons — citizen and noncitizen alike — who are potential victims of flagrant deliberate disregard of due process and the rule of law by the agency charged with upholding it,' Reuveni's lawyers wrote. U.S District Judge James E. Boasberg in April found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for violating his order not to deport anyone in its custody under the Alien Enemies Act. Boasberg had told the administration to turn around any planes that already headed to El Salvador, but that did not happen. The administration has argued it did not violate any orders, saying it didn't apply to planes that had already left U.S. airspace by the time his command came down. Trump nominated Bove last month to fill a vacancy on the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. He was already expected to face tough questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee given his role in some of the department's most scrutinized actions since Trump's return to the White House in January. The top Democrat on the committee, Sen. Dick Durbin, said Tuesday that the allegations from Reuveni are part of a 'broader pattern by President Trump and his allies to undermine the Justice Department's commitment to the rule of law.' 'I want to thank Mr. Reuveni for exercising his right to speak up and bring accountability to Mr. Bove," Durbin said in a statement. "And I implore my Senate Republican colleagues: do not turn a blind eye to the dire consequences of confirming Mr. Bove to a lifetime position as a circuit court judge.' Democrats have raised alarm about several other actions by Bove, including his order to dismiss New York Mayor Eric Adams' corruption case that led to the resignation of a top New York federal prosecutor and other senior Justice Department officials. Bove also accused FBI officials of 'insubordination' for refusing to hand over the names of agents who investigated the U.S. Capitol riot, and ordered the firings of a group of prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 criminal cases.
Al Arabiya
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
Justice Department Official Suggested Ignoring Court Orders on Deportations, Whistleblower Claims
A top Justice Department official suggested the Trump administration might have to ignore court orders as it prepared to deport Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members, a fired department lawyer alleged in a whistleblower complaint made public Tuesday. The whistleblower's claims about Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove come a day before Bove is set to face lawmakers Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become a federal appeals court judge. In a letter seeking a congressional and Justice Department watchdog investigation, the former government lawyer, Erez Reuveni, alleges he was pushed out and publicly disparaged after resisting efforts to defy judges and make arguments in court that were false or had no legal basis. The most explosive allegation in the letter from Reuveni's lawyers centers around a Justice Department meeting in March after President Donald Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act over what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Reuveni says Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could be carried out. Reuveni claims Bove used a profanity, saying the department would need to consider telling the courts 'f— you' and ignore any such order, according to the filing. '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 an expletive,' the filing says. Reuveni's claims were first reported Tuesday by The New York Times. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied the allegations in a post on X Tuesday morning. Blanche said Reuveni's claims are 'utterly false,' adding that he was at the meeting and 'at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed.' '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,' Blanche wrote. Reuveni had been promoted under the Trump administration to serve as acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation. He had worked for the Justice Department for nearly fifteen years under both Republican and Democratic administrations. Reuveni's firing came after he conceded in an April court hearing that a Salvadoran man, Kilmar Abrego Garcia, should not have been deported to an El Salvador prison and expressed frustration over a lack of information about the administration's actions. After that hearing, Reuveni says he refused to sign onto an appeal brief in Abrego Garcia's case that included arguments that were 'contrary to law, frivolous, and untrue.' 'The consequences of DOJ's actions Mr. Reuveni reports have grave impacts not only for the safety of individuals removed from the country in violation of court orders, but also for the constitutional rights and protections of all persons – citizen and noncitizen alike – who are potential victims of flagrant, deliberate disregard of due process and the rule of law by the agency charged with upholding it,' Reuveni's lawyers wrote. Trump nominated Bove last month to fill a vacancy on the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals, which hears cases from Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. He was already expected to face tough questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee given his role in some of the department's most scrutinized actions since Trump's return to the White House in January. Sen. Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the committee, said Tuesday that the allegations from Reuveni are part of a 'broader pattern by President Trump and his allies to undermine the Justice Department's commitment to the rule of law.' 'I want to thank Mr. Reuveni for exercising his right to speak up and bring accountability to Mr. Bove,' Durbin said in a statement. 'And I implore my Senate Republican colleagues: do not turn a blind eye to the dire consequences of confirming Mr. Bove to a lifetime position as a circuit court judge.' Democrats have raised alarm about several other actions by Bove, including his order to dismiss New York Mayor Eric Adams' corruption case that led to the resignation of a top New York prosecutor and other senior Justice Department officials. Bove also accused FBI officials of insubordination for refusing to hand over the names of agents who investigated the US Capitol riot and ordered the firings of a group of prosecutors involved in the Jan. 6 criminal cases.
Reuters
12 hours ago
- Politics
- Reuters
Trump judicial nominee pressured DOJ to defy court on deportations, whistleblower says
WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - A top U.S. Justice Department official tapped by President Donald Trump to serve as an appellate judge profanely pressured department attorneys to defy court orders to carry out mass deportations of people living in the U.S. illegally, according to a whistleblower complaint seen by Reuters on Tuesday. The complaint against Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, which was first reported by the New York Times, was made public the day before Bove is due to appear before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a hearing on his nomination to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. It was submitted to the Justice Department's Inspector General by Erez Reuveni, the former acting deputy director for the Office of Immigration Litigation, who was fired in April after he admitted in a court hearing that the federal government made a mistake when it deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. Current department officials dismissed Reuveni's statements as false, describing him as a disgruntled former employee. Bove, who served as one of Trump's defense attorneys, could not immediately be reached for comment. In his complaint, Reuveni said that during a March 14 meeting with senior officials, Bove told them that the government planned to deport migrants over the weekend under an 18th Century wartime powers law known as the Alien Enemies Act on one or more scheduled flights. Bove told them the planes "needed to take off no matter what," the complaint alleged. Bove allegedly predicted that a court might try to block the removals before they could be carried out. Bove stated that "DOJ would need to consider telling the courts 'fuck you' and ignore any such court order," the complaint alleged. "Mr. Reuveni was in disbelief, because, on the contrary, the Department of Justice consistently advises its clients of their obligation to follow court orders, not to ignore them," the complaint said. The next day, U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg temporarily blocked the deportations. When Boasberg inquired about the status of the flights, another department official who was present during the March 14 meeting with Bove claimed he did not know the status of the planes, the complaint alleged. That statement was "false," the complaint said. Two planes carrying migrants deported under the wartime powers law arrived in El Salvador that day and were placed into Salvadoran custody. Boasberg demanded that the government explain its actions. In its written response, which was signed by multiple lawyers including both Bove and Reuveni, the department denied violating the order, saying the planes had taken off before the court's injunction was issued. Boasberg later found probable cause to hold the government in criminal contempt and launched an investigation to determine who was responsible. A federal appeals court has paused that ruling. Todd Blanche, the deputy attorney general who worked with Bove on Trump's defense team, said in a statement that the claims against Bove were made by a "disgruntled former employee" who "leaked to the press in violation of ethical obligations." "The claims about Department of Justice leadership and the Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General are utterly false," Blanche said in a statement to Reuters. Reuveni and his attorneys at the Government Accountability Project could not immediately be reached for further comment. U.S. Senator Dick Durbin, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in a statement that Bove has "abused his position in numerous ways" and implored his Republican colleagues not to "turn a blind eye to the dire consequences of confirming Mr. Bove to a lifetime position as a circuit court judge.'
