A Justice Department lawyer who was booted from his job by Attorney General Pam Bondi has told Congress that the administration was plotting how to mislead judges and defy court orders in immigration cases, according to House Democrats.
Erez Reuveni made a whistleblower claim to Capitol Hill revealing what appears to be internal administration legal deliberations about strategy.
The Government Accountability Project, which submitted the disclosure for him, said Mr. Reuveni described “a pattern of deliberate defiance of federal court rulings.” That included violating court orders limiting deportations and directing lawyers to suppress evidence.
“Discouraging clients from engaging in illegal conduct is an important part of the role of a lawyer. 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,” the GAP said in the disclosure.
Among the cases is that of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the once-deported and now returned illegal immigrant from El Salvador who faces a human smuggling prosecution. He said he was pressured to misrepresent facts and present flimsy legal arguments to a judge.
Mr. Reuveni repeatedly undermined the government’s case against Mr. Abrego Garcia in a hearing before Judge Paula Xinis, saying Homeland Security was withholding information from him, and telling the judge he was “frustrated” with the department — which was his client.
The lawyer also admitted in court that the government had wrongly deported Mr. Abrego Garcia to El Salvador, despite an immigration judge’s ruling preventing him from being sent back to that country. White House officials later disputed his characterization, saying there was reason to think the immigration judge’s 2019 “withholding of removal” order didn’t apply anymore.
Judge Xinis cited Mr. Reuveni’s disagreements with Homeland Security as part of her reason for ruling that Mr. Abrego Garcia be un-deported.
Mr. Reuveni was fired soon after that hearing.
Judge Xinis had previously ordered the government to answer questions about how it was working to comply with her orders, and she has on several occasions accused the government of slow-walking her demands.
Judge James Boasberg, who, like Judge Xinis, is an Obama appointee and who is overseeing another deportation case, has also said he believes the government was acting in contempt of his rulings in speeding three planeloads of illegal immigrants to El Salvador in March.
Mr. Abrego Garcia was on one of those planes, though his particular case is being handled separately by Judge Xinis.
Mr. Reuveni also said Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, at one meeting about the El Salvador deportations, said the planes “needed to take off no matter what.” He said the department should “consider telling the courts ’f—- you’ and ignore any such court order,” the disclosure says.
The disclosure comes a day before Mr. Bove is scheduled to appear for a confirmation hearing in the Senate for a federal appeals court judgeship.
“Mr. Reuveni has provided a highly credible insider’s account of a plan the highest levels of Trump’s DOJ to mislead judges and defy court orders as the administration rushed to sweep people off the street and disappear them to a torture prison in El Salvador,” said Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee.
He added: “Emil Bove, the deputy attorney general and Trump’s former criminal defense attorney, who is now under Senate consideration for a federal judgeship, told DOJ attorneys to make false and misleading statements to federal judges.”
Sen. Richard J. Durbin of Illinois, the top Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, called the allegations against Mr. Bove “serious” and said they call the lawyer’s ethics into question.
More broadly, Democrats have accused President Trump of refusing to comply with court orders, including the un-deportation order in Mr. Abrego Garcia’s case. They say it’s part of a pattern of “authoritarian” behavior from the president.
Mr. Trump has said he will comply with Supreme Court decisions.
