11 key allegations made in Erez Reuveni's whistleblower disclosure about DOJ

Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche attacked the claims as "falsehoods," but many of the fired longtime DOJ lawyer's allegations are already backed up by public facts.

Lawyers for Erez Reuveni, who had himself been a longtime immigration lawyer at the Justice Department before being fired in April, on Tuesday sent a whisteblower disclosure letter alleging multiple instances of misconduct at the Justice Department since the start of the Trump administration.

This included an explosive claim that Emil Bove, a senior Justice Department official who is now a Trump appellate judicial nominee, told attendees at a key meeting that DOJ might need to tell the courts “fuck you” if they tried to block Alien Enemies Act-based deportations.

The disclosure letter was directed to several relevant governmental officials, including congressional Judiciary Committee leaders, and came the day before the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on Bove’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

The disclosure was first reported by The New York Times, which posted the lawyers’ letter in full. Law Dork also obtained a copy of the letter.

Bove, President Donald Trump’s former criminal defense lawyer, has held several senior positions in the Justice Department in recent months, and is named 20 times Reuveni’s disclosure.

In response to the disclosure and New York Times report, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, another of Trump’s former criminal defense lawyers, said the events described in Reuveni’s disclosure were “falsehoods” released as part of a “false hit piece” targeting Bove due to his judicial nomination:

Mr. Bove’s boss, Todd Blanche, called Mr. Reuveni’s description of events “falsehoods purportedly made by a disgruntled former employee and then leaked to the press in violation of ethical obligations.” Mr. Blanche denounced this article as “a false hit piece a day before a confirmation hearing,” criticizing The Times for publishing it.

“The claims about Department of Justice leadership are utterly false,” he said in a statement.

The filing, however, suggests a copious trail of emails, texts and phone records that would support Mr. Reuveni’s version of events. It notes that he was recently promoted, and had diligently defended controversial immigration policies of the first Trump administration.

The entire 27-page disclosure is important reading, but here are the 11 key allegations I believe must be addressed.

Alien Enemies Act litigation

First up is the headline, “fuck you” claim, relating to Bove’s actions on the day before the Trump administration put Trump’s Alien Enemies Act proclamation into effect:

At Wednesday’s Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Bove did not deny saying that phrase, instead telling Sen. Adam Schiff, “I have no recollection,“ while noting that, at that point on March 14, there was no court order in place blocking the flights.

When asked about whether he said the planes needed to take of no matter what, Bove said, "I don't recall the specific words" used, but acknowledged that he was adamant about the need to support the policy.

Due to Drew Ensign’s attendance at the March 14 meeting, Reuveni’s disclosure asserted that he “reasonably belies” Ensign’s comments to Chief Judge James Boasberg in D.C. District Court at the Saturday evening hearing on March 15 about not knowing whether AEA removals were planned for that weekend was “false.”

Reuveni’s disclosure went on to describe some of what he claims went on that night regarding compliance, alleging that the Department of Homeland Security officials said they “were holding issuance of guidance” regarding Boasberg’s class-wide temporary restraining order “pending a decision from the Attorney General.“

After it became clear, at least internally, that two planes had taken off that included people being deported pursuant to Trump’s AEA proclamation, Reuveni alleged that Ensign told him Bove would be entering an appearance in the case overnight to detail the Department’s view of the court order. That, per Reuveni, quickly changed, and no notice was filed until Sunday afternoon, March 16.

By Monday, March 17, Reuveni alleged, the stonewalling plans — which remain ongoing to today — had begun:

Third country removals litigation

The next case in which Reuveni alleged misconduct is the third country removals case — the case in which the U.S. Supreme Court stayed the preliminary injunction earlier this week. Here, however, in the aftermath of the initial, March 28 temporary restraining order, Reuveni alleged that Ensign told him it would be “advisable to stop sending emails with many recipients,” per the disclosure, when questions about whether DHS officials were being informed of the TRO were being discussed.

Reuveni’s disclosure then laid out significant information about people deported via Guantanamo Bay and via the Defense Department, in the aftermath of an injunction blocking DHS from such removals:

When news of the Defense Department action was publicized, Reuveni alleged that DOD’s acting general counsel told him the DHS had not informed DOD of the injunction.

This all was done, Reuveni alleged, by “senior DOJ leadership.”

This effort later led to the first clarification from Murphy, explaining that DHS could not use DOD to make an end-run around the later-issued preliminary injunction in the case.

Kilmar Abrego Garcia litigation

Finally, Reuveni’s disclosure discussed the matter that got him fired, his acknowledgement at an April 4 hearing before U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis that Kilmar Abrego Garcia had been deported in an “administrative error,” a statement that echoed DHS’s own declaration in the case.

Noting what Ensign asked him after the hearing, Reuveni’s disclosure laid out his response:

Then, Reuveni’s disclosure continued, he was asked to seek a stay pending appeal based on those arguments:

Here is that brief, requesting a stay pending appeal filed before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit at 1:41 a.m. April 5. The court unanimously denied the request.

Reuveni was put on administrative leave later that day and fired less than a week later.