Trump judicial nominee suggested ignoring court orders on deportations, whistleblower claims
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official suggested the Trump administration might have to ignore court orders as it prepared to deport Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members, a fired department lawyer alleged in a whistleblower complaint made public Tuesday.
The whistleblower’s claims about Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove come a day before Bove is set to face lawmakers Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become a federal appeals court judge.
In a letter seeking a congressional and Justice Department watchdog investigation, the former government lawyer, Erez Reuveni, alleges he was pushed out and publicly disparaged after resisting efforts to defy judges and make arguments in court that were false or had no legal basis.
The most explosive allegation in the letter from Reuveni’s lawyers centers around a Justice Department meeting in March concerning President Donald Trump’s plans to invoke the Alien Enemies Act over what the president claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. Reuveni says Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could happen. Reuveni claims Bove used a profanity, saying the department would need to consider telling the courts “f— you,” and “ignore any such order,” according to the filing.
https://apnews.com/article/justice-department-emil-bove-judge-deportations-trump-3800859fc5035bfa7f091ebc97711fb8