Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says

What happened

Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official and President Donald Trump's former criminal defense attorney, actively encouraged government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders, recently dismissed DOJ immigration litigator Erez Reuveni alleged Tuesday in a whistleblower complaint to lawmakers. Trump has nominated Bove for a lifetime seat on the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.

Who said what

According to Reuveni's complaint, Bove told federal lawyers in a March 14 meeting that if the courts threw up roadblocks to Trump's plan to rapidly deport migrants using the Alien Enemies Act, the DOJ "would need to consider telling the courts 'f---- you'" and "ignore any such order." That episode was followed by a "series of attempts by DOJ officials to thwart court orders in at least three immigration-related cases," said Politico.

Bove's boss, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, called Reuveni's allegations "falsehoods purportedly made by a disgruntled former employee." But Reuveni's filing "suggests a copious trail of emails, texts and phone records that would support" his claims, The New York Times said.

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What next?

As "Trump's enforcer" at the DOJ, Bove "has repeatedly rankled and alarmed many career prosecutors," Politico said, and Reuveni's account "seems certain to roil" his Senate Judiciary Committee confirmation hearing today. Still, said CNN, it "would be difficult at this time" to coordinate "enough political support among Republicans to block his nomination."