Second whistleblower backs allegations Bove was ‘undermining rule of law'
Bove, the No. 3 official at DOJ, has been nominated for a lifetime appointment to the Third Circuit Court of Appeals and is awaiting a final vote in the Senate.
He's also been accused by DOJ whistleblower Erez Reuveni of suggesting the department's attorneys may need to tell the courts 'f—k you' and defy any orders blocking the use of the Alien Enemies Act to send migrants to a prison in El Salvador.
A second whistleblower has now stepped forward to back Reuveni's claims, saying Bove and other senior DOJ officials were 'actively and deliberately undermining the rule of law.'
'Our client, whose identity we are protecting, has provided substantive, internal DOJ documents to the Inspector General, supporting former senior DOJ attorney-turned whistleblower Erez Reuveni's allegations,' Whistleblower Aid, the group representing the second whistleblower, said in a press release.
'Reuveni's whistleblower complaint exposes 'high-level governmental personnel [at the DOJ who] knowingly and willfully defied court orders, directed their subordinate attorneys to make misrepresentations to courts, and engaged in a scheme to withhold relevant information from the court to advance the Administration's priority of deporting noncitizens.''
The Trump administration's decision to send Venezuelan migrants to a notorious prison in El Salvador is under the review of U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg, who initially blocked the plan and ordered all flights to be halted or turned around.
Instead, the flights took off, bringing some 200 Venezuelan migrants to the facility. They were recently released back to the South American country.
Boasberg previously found probable cause to hold the Trump administration in criminal contempt for willfully disobeying his order to immediately halt deportations.
A vote on Bove could come as soon as Tuesday.
Democrats called for a hearing with Reuveni before Bove advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee but were denied by the panel's Republicans.
'Reporting suggests a second whistleblower is coming forward further corroborating Erez Reuveni's already-credible allegations of misconduct by Emil Bove—including his 'f— you' approach to the courts. If true, this is another damning indictment of a man who should never be a federal judge—and Senate Republicans will bear full responsibility for the consequences if they rubber stamp Mr. Bove's nomination,' a spokesman for Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the committee, said in a statement.
The Justice Department did not respond to a request for comment.
The whistleblower's attorney also did not respond to an inquiry from The Hill.
Reporting from CNN indicates the whistleblower is a former attorney in DOJ's Office of Immigration Litigation, who worked with Reuveni.
Reuveni was fired after telling a judge in a related case that Kilmar Abrego Garcia was deported in error.
During his confirmation hearing, Bove sidestepped questions about whether he used the expletive.
'I've certainly said things encouraging litigators at the department to fight hard for valid positions that we have to take,' Bove said when asked about the episode.
'I certainly conveyed the importance of the upcoming operation,' he added about the Alien Enemies Act flights.
The whistleblower has filed a claim with DOJ's Office of Inspector General, and a Friday statement from attorney Andrew Bakaj indicates they have information about broader efforts to defy court orders.
'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,' Bakaj said.
'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. Loyalty to one individual must never outweigh supporting and protecting the fundamental rights of those living in the United States.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
29 minutes ago
- The Hill
Senate approves more than $180 billion in 2026 funding before August recess
The Senate on Friday passed its first tranche of government funding bills for fiscal year 2026 ahead of its upcoming August recess, but Congress is bracing for a potentially messy fight to prevent a shutdown when they return in September. The chamber approved three bills that provide more than $180 billion in discretionary funding for the departments of Veterans Affairs (VA) and Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), military construction, legislative branch operations and rural development. The bills passed in two parts: on an 87-9 vote for military construction, VA, agriculture and FDA funding; and an 81-15 vote for legislative branch funding. The votes cap off days of uncertainty over whether the Senate would be joining the House on a monthlong recess with any of its 12 annual funding bills passed out of the chamber. Sen. John Boozman (R-Ark.), who heads the subcommittee that crafted the full-year VA funding bill, said Friday that he sees the first batch of bills as more of a 'test run.' 'It's just been so long since we've done our appropriations bills. A lot of people just [forgot] the procedures,' he told The Hill, noting that in the previous congressional session senators 'really didn't do bills.' Appropriators say the vote marks the first time since 2018 that the Senate has passed funding legislation before the August recess. 'It's really a matter of just kind of legislating again, and the more we do it, the easier, the easier it'll be as we go back,' Boozman said. In the past week, senators had gone through several iterations of their first funding package of the year, as leaders on both sides worked through frustrations in their ranks over proposed spending levels and actions by the Trump administration that incensed Democrats. Well over half of the funding approved Friday is included in the annual VA and military construction bill, which calls for upwards of $153 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal 2026. That includes about $133 billion for the VA and roughly $20 billion for the Department of Defense military construction program. More than $113 billion in discretionary funding would go toward VA medical care. The annual agricultural funding plan calls for $27 billion in discretionary funding for fiscal 2026. It includes $8.2 billion for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), about $7 billion in funding for the Food and Drug Administration, roughly $1.7 billion for rental assistance, and nearly $1.23 billion for the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS). Democrats have also highlighted $240 million in funding in the bill for the McGovern-Dole Food for Education program, which was targeted in President Trump's latest budget request. The annual legislative branch funding plan calls for about $7 billion for House and Senate operations, the U.S. Capitol Police and agencies like the Library of Congress (LOC), the Government Accountability Office, the Congressional Research Service (CRS), the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), and the Architect of the Capitol. Capitol Police would see a boost under the plan, along with the CBO, while funding for the LOC, the CRS and the GAO would be kept at fiscal 2025 levels. Lawmakers also agreed to $44.5 million in emergency funds aimed at beefing up security and member protection, citing safety concerns following the shootings of Minnesota lawmakers earlier this year. Republicans had previously been uncertain about whether the third bill would be passed as part of the package this week until Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.), a senior appropriator, said a deal was worked out to allow him to vote on the measure separately from the other bills. Kennedy has criticized the legislative branch funding bill for its proposed spending levels. 'It just doesn't seem appropriate for us to be spending that much extra while everybody else has to take a cut,' he told reporters in late July. 'Now, some of my colleagues point out, yes, but the extra spending is for member security.' 'If you're going to spend extra money on member security, find a pay-for within the bill. I just think the optics are terrible and the policy is terrible,' he said. 'We ought to hold ourselves to the same standard we're holding everybody else, and that's why I'm going to vote no.' Republicans also blame Sen. Chris Van Hollen's (D-Md.) resistance to the Trump administration's relocation plans for the FBI's headquarters for weighing down efforts to pass the annual Justice Department funding bill. Senators had initially expected that bill, which also funds the Commerce Department and science-related agencies, to be part of the package until those plans fell apart earlier this week amid a clash over Trump administration plans to relocate the FBI headquarters. Speaking from the Senate floor on Thursday, Van Hollen, the top Democrat on the subcommittee that crafted the annual funding deal, said he had been pushing for an amendment aimed at ensuring the FBI would 'have a level 5 security headquarters.' He noted his previous attempt during committee consideration that temporarily led to the adoption of an amendment to the DOJ funding bill that sought to block President Trump's plans to keep the FBI's headquarters in Washington, D.C. However, the change was later scrapped after staunch GOP opposition threatened to tank the bill. 'It didn't happen because members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Republicans and Democrats, didn't think that was the right thing to do – to preserve what we had set out before and make sure that the men and women [of the FBI] have a level 5 security headquarters,' he said. 'We did it because the President of the United States was going to throw a fit if that provision stayed on.' Van Hollen said he hopes the bill will be able to 'get back on track' in September. However, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kansas), chair of the subcommittee alongside Van Hollen, offered a rather gloomy outlook for the bill's next steps after recess. He argued much of the focus in September is likely to be on getting a deal on a funding stopgap, also known as a continuing resolution (CR), to keep the government funded beyond the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline. 'When we get back from recess, we'll move to working on the CR to get us so I would guess if the CJS has a path, it's probably just the CR and will continue,' Moran said. 'All the work that we've done goes away, and we'll go back to CR and fund those agencies at the same level and same way that we did last year.' 'Every time we say we want to do appropriation bills, then there's someone who has a reason that, 'Not this time,' 'Not this one,' 'Not – because I didn't get what I want,'' he said. 'And this time we're arguing over an amendment that was allowed to the senator who's objecting, but he wanted a commitment that he get the outcome he wants.' 'And he didn't win in committee, and he wouldn't win on the Senate floor, but he can, I wouldn't think, but he can make his case. But he rejected that option,' he said.
Politico
30 minutes ago
- Politico
Democratic governors advise strong counteroffensive on redistricting
Kelly didn't cite California Gov. Gavin Newsom by name, but he is the most high profile, and likeliest, example of a Democrat considering a counteroffensive remapping effort to squeeze more seats from a blue state. On Thursday, Newsom said he'd seek a November special election to have voters approve a new House map that would boost Democrats' numbers. It's an expensive and potentially perilous gamble that his Democratic colleagues throughout the country appear to be backing — a notably more aggressive posture for the party. Various mid-decade redistricting efforts could launch a partisan arms race, as the parties look to redraw competing congressional maps to their own advantages. Democrats face a tougher path, as several blue states are bound by independent redistricting commissions and state constitutions, which would prevent them from quickly remaking maps. By contrast, discussions are already underway in several other Republican-controlled states that could follow Texas' lead, including Missouri, Indiana and Florida. Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz acknowledged there's 'validity' to concerns that Republicans might gain even more seats, should redistricting wars escalate. But, Walz and Kelly said, 'there's a bigger risk in doing nothing.' 'We can't just let this happen and act like it's fine, and hope that the courts fix it,' Kelly said. 'We have no idea, quite honestly, at this point, what the courts might do, but by virtue of us responding in kind, we do send a message. We're not going to take this line down.'
NBC News
30 minutes ago
- NBC News
Colombian ex-President Álvaro Uribe is sentenced to 12 years house arrest for bribery
BOGOTA, Colombia — Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe was sentenced Friday to 12 years of house arrest for witness tampering and bribery in a historic case that gripped the South American nation and tarnished the conservative strongman's legacy. The sentence, which Uribe said will be appealed, followed a nearly six-month trial in which prosecutors presented evidence that he attempted to influence witnesses who accused the law-and-order leader of having links to a paramilitary group in the 1990s. 'Politics prevailed over the law in sentencing,' Uribe said after Friday's hearing. Uribe, 73, has denied any wrongdoing. He faced up to 12 years in prison after being convicted Monday. His attorney had asked the court to allow Uribe to remain free while he appeals the verdict. Judge Sandra Heredia on Friday said she did not grant the defense's request because it would be 'easy' for the former president to leave the country to 'evade the imposed sanction.' Heredia also banned Uribe from holding public office for eight years and fined him about $776,000. Ahead of Friday's sentencing, Uribe posted on X that he was preparing arguments to support his appeal. He added that one must 'think much more about the solution than the problem' during personal crises. The appeals court will have until early October to issue a ruling, which either party could then challenge before Colombia's Supreme Court. The former president governed from 2002 to 2010 with strong support from the United States. He is a polarizing figure in Colombia, where many credit him for saving the country from becoming a failed state, while others associate him with human rights violations and the rise of paramilitary groups in the 1990s. Heredia on Monday said she had seen enough evidence to determine that Uribe conspired with a lawyer to coax three former paramilitary group members, who were in prison, into changing testimony they had provided to Ivan Cepeda, a leftist senator who had launched an investigation into Uribe's alleged ties to a paramilitary group. Uribe in 2012 filed a libel suit against Cepeda in the Supreme Court. But in a twist, the high court in 2018 dismissed the accusations against Cepeda and began investigating Uribe. Martha Peñuela Rosales, a supporter of Uribe's party in the capital, Bogota, said she wept and prayed after hearing of the sentence. 'It's an unjust sentence. He deserves to be free,' she said. Meanwhile, Sergio Andrés Parra, who protested against Uribe outside the courthouse, said the 12-year sentence 'is enough' and, even if the former president appeals, 'history has already condemned him.' peace talks that led to the disarmament of more than 13,000 fighters in 2016.
