DOJ Whistle-Blower Warns of Systemic Rule-of-Law Violations in Trump Deportation Push: Report

A whistle-blower complaint filed by a former Department of Justice (DOJ) lawyer alleges that senior officials from the Trump administration considered defying court orders to advance a mass deportation campaign.

The complaint centers on Emil Bove III, a senior DOJ official nominated to a federal appeals court, and claims he proposed ignoring judicial mandates to ensure deportation flights proceeded. Bove previously served as a criminal defense attorney for Trump before being tapped for the high-ranking DOJ position, as Politico points out. Last month, Trump nominated Bove for a seat on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

The complaint was filed by Erez Reuveni a career DOJ attorney for nearly 15 years, and submitted to Congress and the DOJ inspector general. According to The New York Times, which reviewed the account, Reuveni alleges that during a March 14 meeting, Bove told DOJ lawyers they might need to say "fuck you" to the courts if injunctions threatened the administration's plan to deport a group of Venezuelan immigrants under the Alien Enemies Act.

"Bove stated that D.O.J. would need to consider telling the courts 'fuck you' and ignore any such order," Reuveni's lawyers wrote in the 27-page complaint. Present at the meeting were other senior officials including James McHenry, Paul Perkins, Drew Ensign, and August Flentje.

According to Reuveni, the administration pursued at least three deportation efforts in March that he believes violated court orders or relied on misleading legal arguments. He described internal resistance to legal constraints, including what he said was "lack of candor, deliberate delay and disinformation."

Reuveni also claims that DOJ leadership gave conflicting directions to other federal agencies. In one case, despite a court ruling blocking the removal of an immigrant, deportation proceeded. Reuveni said he was later directed to sign a brief falsely labeling the individual a terrorist. When he refused, saying, "I didn't sign up to lie," he was placed on leave and fired.

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former co-counsel with Bove in Trump's legal defense, denied the claims, calling Reuveni a "disgruntled former employee" and stating the allegations are "utterly false."

Bove, who served as a private attorney for Trump before joining the DOJ, is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee regarding his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Justice Department has not issued an official comment on the whistle-blower complaint.