Second whistleblower accuses Trump judicial nominee of telling DOJ to defy federal courts

Emil Bove — who President Donald Trump has nominated to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals — is now being accused by a second Department of Justice (DOJ) whistleblower of instructing employees to ignore the judiciary.

HuffPost's Jennifer Bendery reported Friday that an unnamed whistleblower has since confirmed a previous whistleblower account that Bove, in his capacity as principal associate deputy attorney general (the 3rd most powerful official in the agency), instructed employees to defy a federal judge's orders. Earlier this month, Erez Reuveni publicly came forward as the DOJ employee behind the first whistleblower account alleging that Bove told staffers to say "f--- you" to the courts in response to an order prohibiting the deportation of immigrants to a notorious maximum security mega-prison in El Salvador.

"Our client and Mr. Reuveni are true patriots – prioritizing their commitment to democracy over advancing their careers," Whistleblower Aid chief counsel Andrew Bakaj told HuffPost.

READ MORE: Trump DOJ sitting on 'more than 100,000 pages' of unreleased Epstein materials: NY Times

"What we’re seeing here is something I never thought would be possible on such a wide scale: federal prosecutors appointed by the Trump administration intentionally presenting dubious if not outright false evidence to a court of jurisdiction in cases that impact a person’s fundamental rights not only under our Constitution, but their natural rights as humans," he continued.

"What this means is that federal career attorneys who swore an oath to uphold the Constitution are now being pressured to abdicate that promise in favor of fealty to a single person, specifically Donald Trump,” he added. “Loyalty to one individual must never outweigh supporting and protecting the fundamental rights of those living in the United States."

Aside from the whistleblower allegations, Bove is also being accused of orchestrating a "quid pro quo" with New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D), in which the federal bribery charges against him were dropped in exchange for his cooperation with the Trump administration's immigration enforcement activities in New York. Before his role at the DOJ, Bove was one of Trump's criminal defense attorney in New York.

If confirmed to a lifelong term the Third Circuit, Bove would be one step removed from the Supreme Court, and would have jurisdiction over federal district courts in Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Senate Republicans narrowly passed a procedural vote to advance Bove's nomination earlier this week.

READ MORE: 'Not just racist but stupid': VP slammed for 'sleight of hand' while promoting far-right theory

Click here to read Bendery's full report in HuffPost.