By Steve Neavling
A former senior Justice Department attorney has accused top officials of discussing plans to defy federal court orders to advance the Trump administration’s immigration agenda, according to a whistleblower complaint filed Tuesday, CBS News reports.
Erez Reuveni, a 14-year DOJ veteran, said he was placed on leave and later fired after objecting to efforts by department leadership to mislead judges and delay compliance with court rulings in three high-profile deportation cases.
Among the officials named in the complaint is Emil Bove, a former acting deputy attorney general who has been nominated to a federal appeals court. According to Reuveni, Bove suggested during a 2024 meeting that the DOJ might have to ignore a court order blocking deportations and told colleagues that “planes needed to take off no matter what.”
The day after that meeting, a judge ordered the return of migrants removed under the Alien Enemies Act. The flights were not rerouted. Reuveni said one of his supervisors later misled a judge about whether more deportations were underway, despite being in the room when Bove ordered them to continue.
Reuveni also raised alarms about a separate case involving the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. He told the court that the man should not have been removed and pushed DOJ and DHS officials to return him. Reuveni said he was told to stop asking questions and later refused to sign an appeal he believed was based on false claims.
Soon after, DOJ leadership accused him of failing to follow directives and placed him on leave. He was fired within a week.
In a statement, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche dismissed the complaint as false and claimed that no one in the department advocated disobeying a court order.
Reuveni’s attorneys say the case raises serious concerns about the rule of law and due process under an administration that sought to sideline legal protections in immigration cases.
