Whistleblower alleges unethical conduct by Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove

The Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi dismissed the claims as baseless.

PUBLISHED 1 DAY AGO

Reuveni filed a whistleblower complaint in June.

WASHINGTON D.C.: One week ahead of a crucial Senate committee vote, explosive new claims have surfaced against Emil Bove, a former Trump defense attorney and nominee for the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals.

CBS News obtained emails and text messages shared with Congress by whistleblower Erez Reuveni, a former senior Justice Department attorney, accusing Bove of unethical conduct during a controversial deportation case earlier this year.

Senate Judiciary Committee Democrats released the communications Thursday, citing them as evidence that Bove, while a top DOJ official, played a key role in defying a court order to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia, who had been mistakenly deported from Maryland to El Salvador in March.

Reuveni, who opposed the deportation and sought Garcia’s return in line with a 2019 court order, says he was fired in April for failing to defend the administration's actions “vigorously enough".

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The messages include alleged instructions from Bove to disregard the court order, including one exchange where Bove reportedly told DOJ attorneys to communicate a “fuck you” to the judge. Other messages reveal confusion among officials about Garcia's alleged gang affiliations, with some mistakenly linking him to both MS-13 and Venezuela-based Tren de Aragua. Garcia’s attorneys deny all gang involvement.

Reuveni filed a whistleblower complaint in June, claiming he was “threatened, fired, and publicly disparaged” for resisting what he saw as unlawful directives. He also testified that DOJ leadership downplayed the deportation error and tried to smear Garcia.

The Justice Department and Attorney General Pam Bondi dismissed Reuveni’s claims as baseless. “There was no court order to defy,” Bondi said in a statement, calling Reuveni a “disgruntled employee” with a “revisionist account".

Bove denied all allegations during his Senate confirmation hearing, stating, “I have never advised a DOJ attorney to violate a court order.” The White House remains firmly behind Bove, with spokesperson Harrison Fields calling him “an incredibly talented legal mind” and a “staunch defender of the Constitution".

Sen. Dick Durbin, the Judiciary Committee’s top Democrat, said the evidence paints a troubling picture: “The DOJ misled a federal court and disregarded a court order. Mr. Bove spearheaded this effort.”