A fired Justice Department lawyer accuses the agency of planning to defy court orders

[Jilly_in_VA]

A longtime government lawyer told Congress that Justice Department leaders planned to knowingly defy court orders and withhold information from judges to advance the Trump administration's aggressive deportation goals, according to a newly published whistleblower complaint.

The lawyer, Erez Reuveni, previously won awards and commendations over nearly 15 years at the Justice Department, including from Republican appointees in the first Trump administration. But he was put on leave and then fired in April after he told a federal judge an immigrant had been deported in error.

Reuveni ultimately decided to blow the whistle to lawmakers and watchdogs at the Justice Department and the Office of Special Counsel, detailing what he called defiance and noncompliance in three separate immigration cases this year. His accusations add to broader concern about the Trump administration's repeated clashes with the judiciary over immigration and other policies.

"Discouraging clients from engaging in illegal conduct is an important part of the role of a lawyer," his attorneys wrote in the complaint. "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."

https://www.npr.org/2025/06/24/g-s1-74316/justice-department-immigration-whistleblower

Their actions show this to be true.

[orangecrush]

1. Fired for reporting a crime

Glad he was there long enough to do it.

[justaprogressive]

2. K'n'R

[malaise]

3. The Department of Justice defying the courts

Let that sink in

[lindysalsagal]

4. Dems better get loud about this.

[mamacita75]

5. Not good

May this gentleman be safe.
We are losing so many good people who speak up to power.

[erronis]

6. All of the scum of this country have taken control. The crooks run the joint.

It can't be sustained - they'll be slitting each others' throats soon. But in the meantime the collateral damage will be immense.

Call in the cops? The DoJ, FBI, DHS, etc. are now filled with vermin and maggots.

[WestMichRad]

7. This is a big deal and his accusations deserve great attention.

There is a “presumption of regularity” under which judges assume that government lawyers are acting in good faith and providing accurate and truthful information to the courts. Judges give government lawyers considerable deference in this regard, and it generally biases a judge’s decision in favor of the government.

If government lawyers are demonstrably withholding information and defying court orders, they deserve no such deference. I’m hopeful that judges will see that this behavior by government lawyers and stop giving them this preferential treatment.