New Evidence that DOJ Intentionally Defied Court Orders and Lied to a Judge

In an incredible letter, whistleblower and now-fired DoJ employee Erez Reuveni details how Emil Bove instructed him to tell the court to "fuck off."

One day before Emil Bove - Trump’s new Roy Cohn and newly minted Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General - faces a confirmation hearing after being nominated by the president to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, a whistleblower from the Department of Justice drops a 30,000-pound bomb: Emil Bove instructed DoJ lawyers to ignore court orders.

You’ll all recall Judge Boasberg’s March 15th Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) to “turn the planes around” after they were sent to El Salvador carrying people like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, Andry Hernandez Romero, and Frengel Reyes Mota. Over 230 men - disappeared without due process - under Trump’s Alien Enemies Act Proclamation to a torture prison in El Salvador called CECOT.

According to the whistleblower - the now-fired DoJ lawyer Erez Reuveni - Emil Bove anticipated Judge Boasberg’s restraining order, and instructed lawyers at the Justice Department to ignore it. From Reuveni’s letter:

At the [March 14th] meeting Bove indicated to those in attendance that the AEA proclamation would soon be signed and that one or more planes containing individuals subject to the AEA would be taking off over the weekend – meaning Saturday, March 15 and Sunday, March 16.

Bove then made a remark concerning the possibility that a court order would enjoin those removals before they could be effectuated. Bove stated that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts "fuck you” and ignore any such court order. Mr. Reuveni perceived that others in the room looked stunned, and he observed awkward, nervous glances among people in the room. Silence overtook the room.

What’s even more devastating is that Drew Ensign was at that meeting:

That same day, following news reports that the President intended to sign a presidential proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act (AEA), Mr. Reuveni was summoned to a meeting by Deputy Assistant Attorney General (DAAG) of the Office of Immigration Litigation (OIL), Drew Ensign. At the meeting were Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General (PADAG) Emil Bove, Counselor to the Deputy Attorney General James McHenry, Associate Deputy Attorney General (ADAG) Paul Perkins, DAAG Ensign, Acting Director for OIL and Mr. Reuveni's direct supervisor, August Flentje, and other OIL attorneys.

The next day, Drew Ensign would tell Judge Boasberg that he did not know whether the planes had taken off:

At this hearing, Judge Boasberg said that “the plaintiffs ... expected planes to be departing within the last couple of hours,” and asked Ensign “if any of the named plaintiffs are, in fact, or any plane that has departed?" Ensign assured the court that none of the named plaintiffs would be removed during the pendency of the TRO. When Judge Boasberg asked if that meant the plaintiffs “are either not on the planes or that they will not be removed from the planes and will be brought back once the planes land in El Salvador, ” Ensign asserted, “I don't know the status of the planes. If there are removal flights, the five would not be on them. ” When Judge Boasberg asked whether any deportations or removals were imminent, as “in the next 24 or 48 hours,” Ensign answered, “I don't know the answer to that question. "

Mr. Reuveni reasonably believes Ensign's statement to the court that he did not know whether AEA removals would take place “in the next 24 or 48 hours" was false. Ensign had been present in the previous day's meeting when Emil Bove stated clearly that one or more planes containing individuals subject to the AEA would be taking off over the weekend no matter what.

In other words, Drew Ensign lied to the court.

Ultimately, The Supreme Court would vacate Judge Boasberg’s TROs, require individual habeas petitions for deportees wanting to challenge removal under the Alien Enemies Act Proclamation, and declare that those subject to removal must have meaningful due process.

Despite Judge Boasberg’s TROs being vacated, he issued a memorandum advising the government should be held in criminal contempt. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed that order, however.

I don’t know how Erez Reuveni’s declaration will impact that case, the supplemental order Judge Boasberg issued requiring the government to explain how they intend to give due process to the men trapped at CECOT, the pending Kilmar Abrego case, or Mr. Bove’s looming judicial confirmation hearing. Though I imagine this will have wide-ranging implications for all four.

You can read Mr. Reuveni’s letter here.

~AG

AP/El Salvador presidential press office