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Democratic Senators in the United States Senate have disclosed a series of text messages and emails that they claim raise concerns about the executive branch’s adherence to court orders.
On Thursday, Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois, the senior Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, released evidence he referred to as “whistleblower” information regarding government attorney Emil Bove.
In his capacity as acting deputy attorney general for the Department of Justice (DOJ), Bove allegedly directed his colleagues to disregard or mislead courts regarding President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement actions, according to Durbin.
“Text messages, email exchanges, and documents indicate that the Department of Justice deceived a federal court and disregarded a court order,” Durbin stated on social media.
“Mr. Bove led this effort, which demanded attorneys to breach their duty of candor to the court.”
Bove, who recently served as a personal lawyer to President Trump during his criminal trials, has been nominated for a lifetime position as a judge on the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Senate approval is required for him to take up this role.
“Emil Bove is unfit for the federal bench,” Durbin said. “This vote will serve as a test for Senate Judiciary Republicans.”
Durbin stated that the emails and texts he released were from a source within the Justice Department; most names in the communications have been concealed.
However, they seem to support allegations made in a June complaint by Erez Reuveni, a Justice Department lawyer who reported to Bove until his dismissal in April.
In his complaint, Reuveni accused Bove of instructing Justice Department lawyers to consider telling the courts to “go to hell” if they impeded President Trump’s immigration plans.
This directive came in the context of Trump’s controversial application of the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which had previously only been used in wartime.
Trump has justified undocumented immigration as an “invasion” and has sought to deport individuals under this act without allowing them a chance to contest their removal.
Reuveni reported that Bove stressed the immediate start of deportation proceedings following the invocation of the Alien Enemies Act and emphasized that the deportation flights must proceed regardless of any court interference.
Reuveni interpreted this as an attempt to circumvent judicial authority.
Additionally, Reuveni claimed that he was discouraged from questioning the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an immigrant wrongly deported to El Salvador despite a court order protecting him.
When Reuveni admitted in a Maryland court that he lacked “satisfactory” answers about Abrego Garcia’s return, he alleged that Trump officials pressured him to make unsubstantiated claims against Ab
Source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/11/democrats-publish-leaked-justice-department-messages-on-deportation-push?traffic_source=rss
