'Disqualifying': 'Trove of e-mails and text messages' bolster DOJ whistleblower’s claim
FILE PHOTO: Attorney Emil Bove looks on as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump appears remotely for a sentencing hearing in front of New York State Judge Juan Merchan in the criminal case in which he was convicted in 2024 on charges involving hush money paid to a porn star, at New York Criminal Court in Manhattan in New York City, U.S., on January 10, 2025. ANGELA WEISS/Pool via REUTERS/File Photo
One of the many controversies the second Trump Administration is facing involves Emil Bove, a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) appointee who — former DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni alleges — encouraged colleagues to defy federal court rulings on President Donald Trump's immigration policies. Bove has flatly denied Reuveni's allegations, but on Thursday morning, July 10, Politico journalists Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney reported that Reuveni "has provided Congress with a trove of e-mails and text messages to corroborate his claims" that Bove "crudely discussed defying court orders."
"The newly-released messages reinforce claims by whistleblower Erez Reuveni that Bove played a key role in a decision by Trump Administration immigration officials to turn scores of Venezuelan immigrants over to El Salvador's government despite a U.S. judge's order not to do so," Gerstein and Cheney report. "The messages show increasing alarm among Justice Department lawyers that the (Trump) Administration had in fact defied court orders and that some officials — including a prominent DOJ lawyer brought on by the Trump Administration — could face sanctions for misleading the courts."
According to Gerstein and Cheney, "The disclosures to the Senate Judiciary Committee, requested by the panel's Democrats and shared with Politico, come as the committee prepares to vote on and likely advance Bove's nomination to a seat on the Philadelphia-based 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals. Bove's brief but rocky tenure at the Justice Department appears unlikely to derail his nomination, particularly after Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC), a key vote on the panel, suggested Wednesday, (July 9) he was likely to back Trump's pick."
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Many Democrats, in light of Reuveni's allegations, are encouraging a "no" vote on Bove.
Politico's new reporting on Bove is receiving a lot of discussion on X, formerly Twitter.
Senate Judiciary Democrats tweeted, "More whistleblower evidence corroborates allegations that Emil Bove, a Trump judicial pick, said the Justice Department would need to say 'f--- you' to federal courts. Disqualifying."
College professor J. Thibodeaux said of GOP Senators Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, "Collins and Murkowski will still vote to confirm. Watch."
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CBS News' Scott MacFarlane posted, "ALERT: Whistleblower's texts suggest Trump judicial nominee Emil Bove urged lawyer to defy court order."
X user The Porcelain Dalmation tweeted, "So not only did Bove advocate disobeying court orders, he committed perjury when he lied about it in front of the committee …. Internal DOJ messages bolster claim that Trump judicial nominee spoke of defying court orders…. @politico."
Aaron Reichlin-Melnick of the American Immigration Council posted, "When questioned under oath at his confirmation hearing, Emil Bove refused to outright deny that he'd said the DOJ should tell federal judges 'f--- you,' instead avoiding any straight answer. Now newly-released text messages lend further support to the whistleblower's account."
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Read Josh Gerstein and Kyle Cheney's full Politico article at this link.
