WASHINGTON ― New documents released Thursday by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) back up a whistleblower’s claims that President Donald Trump’s judicial nominee Emil Bove led an effort within the Justice Department to mislead a federal court and disobey court orders.
Bove, who is currently associate deputy U.S. attorney general and is also nominated to a lifetime seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, is facing serious allegations by former DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni, who last month filed a complaint alleging that Bove told DOJ lawyers to say “fuck you” to judges who ruled against them.
Reuveni was a highly praised, 15-year lawyer at DOJ until he was fired in April, after truthfully stating in court that the Trump administration had wrongfully removed Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.
His complaint alleges that, during a March 14 meeting with senior DOJ leadership, Bove told them they “would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’ and ignore” any court order preventing them from removing immigrants from the country under the Alien Enemies Act. It also alleges that Deputy Assistant Attorney General Drew Ensign willfully lied to the court hearing the removal case, and that Reuveni was repeatedly pressured to lie to the court and ultimately fired for refusing to do so.
Bove, who was previously Trump’s personal attorney, was pressed on these allegations in his judicial nomination hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. He told senators he “can’t recall” doing any of the things Reuveni has accused him of doing. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has called Reuveni’s claims “utterly false.”
But on Thursday, Durbin, the top Democrat on the committee, released text messages, email exchanges and other documents corroborating Reuveni’s allegations. They include communications showing Reuveni’s unsuccessful efforts to ensure that DOJ was complying with court orders, and convey the futility of his efforts as senior DOJ officials make it clear they don’t plan to comply with court orders.
The documents also include internal messages related to Bove’s alleged comments on March 14 about telling federal courts “fuck you.”
“This doesn’t end with anything but a nationwide injunction,” Reuveni writes in a March 15 text exchange with a colleague. “And a decision point on fuck you.”
Senate Judiciary Committee
“Guess we are going to say fuck you to the court,” Reuveni writes later that day to another colleague. “Super.”
“Well Pamela Jo Bondi is,” responds the colleague. “Not you.”
Senate Judiciary Committee
You can read the 150 pages of documents here — Batch 1 and Batch 2 — along with a summary of what’s in each one.
These communications show “that the Department of Justice misled a federal court and disregarded a court order,” Durbin said in a statement, and show that Bove “spearheaded this effort, which demanded attorneys violate their ethical duty of candor to the court.”
Bove’s nomination is eligible for a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee’s next executive business meeting, which could come as soon as next week.
“These episodes can only lead to one conclusion: Emil Bove belongs nowhere near the federal bench,” Durbin said. “This vote will be a litmus test for Senate Judiciary Republicans. This is about more than a random f-bomb. This is a declaration of defiance of our courts at the highest level of our government by a man who now seeks a lifetime appointment to one of the highest courts in our land.”
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Asked for comment about the newly released documents, the White House provided the exact same statement it gave to HuffPost for another story about Bove last month.
“Emil Bove is an incredibly talented legal mind and a staunch defender of the U.S. Constitution who will make an excellent circuit court judge,” said White House spokesperson Harrison Fields.
“Bove is unquestionably qualified for the role and has a career filled with accolades, both academically and throughout his legal career, that should make him a shoo-in for the Third Circuit,” he said. “The President is committed to nominating constitutionalists to the bench who will restore law and order and end the weaponization of the justice system, and Emil Bove fits that mold perfectly.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi dismissed Reuveni’s claims on social media, calling him a “disgruntled employee” and “a leaker asserting false claims seeking five minutes of fame.”
“And no one was ever asked to defy a court order,” Bondi wrote. “This is another instance of misinformation being spread to serve a narrative that does not align with the facts.”
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said his staff will review the new documents, but at first blush, they don’t seem incriminating to him.
“Mr. Bove was very clear when he said under oath at his hearing that he never instructed anyone not to follow a court order,” Grassley said in a statement.
“Everything about the way this has been handled by the other side smacks of bad faith,” said the Iowa Republican. “If the Democrats were serious about this process, they wouldn’t have sent me these documents less than one hour before releasing them to the media. That to me shows they’re playing politics.”