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Internal DOJ messages bolster claim that Trump judicial nominee spoke of defying court orders
POLITICOA fired Justice Department attorney has provided Congress with a trove of emails and text messages to corroborate his claims that a controversial Trump judicial nominee — top DOJ official Emil 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.
The messages show increasing alarm among Justice Department lawyers that the 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.
Bove has said that he never advised anyone to violate court orders.
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-N.C.), a key vote on the panel, suggested Wednesday he was likely to back Trump’s pick.
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.
The messages show increasing alarm among Justice Department lawyers that the 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.
Bove has said that he never advised anyone to violate court orders.
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-N.C.), a key vote on the panel, suggested Wednesday he was likely to back Trump’s pick.
Kyle Cheney
@kyledcheney
NEW: A batch of newly revealed text messages and emails from fired DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni show in real time how DOJ officials handled court orders related to the Alien Enemies Act, Kilmar Abrego Garcia and more.
They lend contemporaneous support to Reuveni's claim that Emil Bove suggested telling a court "fuck you." https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/10/emil-bove-whistleblower-documents-00446225
There's a lot to unpack in the texts and emails between Reuveni and his colleagues. They joke morbidly about beign fired, and are grateful Boasberg was on vacation when the AEA crisis erupted.
Reuveni repeatedly told people inside the administration that Boasberg had ordered DHS not to deplane people after they landed in El Salvador. There seemed to be no ambiguity until ...
Bove's office told them it was fine to deplane people in El Salvador prior to Boasberg issuing a written order -- even though Reuveni had no trouble communicating his oral order to the agencies.
MORE: On Kilmar Abrego Garcia, State seemed ready to reach out to El Salvador about returning him to the United States early in the process. But leadership of DOJ and DHS initially balked.
REUVENI sent a pretty prescient email about what would happen if they didn't just seek Abrego's return and instead let it play out in the courts.
@kyledcheney
NEW: A batch of newly revealed text messages and emails from fired DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni show in real time how DOJ officials handled court orders related to the Alien Enemies Act, Kilmar Abrego Garcia and more.
They lend contemporaneous support to Reuveni's claim that Emil Bove suggested telling a court "fuck you." https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/10/emil-bove-whistleblower-documents-00446225
There's a lot to unpack in the texts and emails between Reuveni and his colleagues. They joke morbidly about beign fired, and are grateful Boasberg was on vacation when the AEA crisis erupted.
Reuveni repeatedly told people inside the administration that Boasberg had ordered DHS not to deplane people after they landed in El Salvador. There seemed to be no ambiguity until ...
Bove's office told them it was fine to deplane people in El Salvador prior to Boasberg issuing a written order -- even though Reuveni had no trouble communicating his oral order to the agencies.
MORE: On Kilmar Abrego Garcia, State seemed ready to reach out to El Salvador about returning him to the United States early in the process. But leadership of DOJ and DHS initially balked.
REUVENI sent a pretty prescient email about what would happen if they didn't just seek Abrego's return and instead let it play out in the courts.
Link to tweet