Pam Bondi Thinks Lying to a Federal Judge Makes You a Great Person
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi considers senior Justice Department official Emil Bove, who attempted to lie to a federal judge to speed up deportations, to be one of the 'best human beings' she knows.
On Wednesday, Bondi was questioned by Senator Chris Van Hollen over recent disclosures from Justice Department whistleblower Erez Reuveni, who was fired by the Trump administration after admitting that the deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia was an 'administrative error.' Now Reuveni claims that Bove, at a meeting ahead of the invocation of the wartime Alien Enemies Act of 1798, told attendees to tell the courts 'fuck you' and ignore any court orders that may stop a plane from taking off or a detainment from occuring.
'[Reuvini] says he was fired because he didn't want to make an untruthful statement to a court of law,' said Van Hollen. 'I have two questions. Number one, I assume you agree that zealous advocacy does not mean telling untruths to courts of law. And second, if that's not the case, what do you mean by saying he was not a zealous advocate?'
Van Hollen hadn't even named Bove, but Bondi immediately took it as an attack on her colleague.
'Senator Van Hollen, this is all pending litigation, as you're well aware, and the timing of it. I can't discuss pending litigation. This is a whistleblower lawsuit pending within my office, but I will say the timing of it I find suspect,' Bondi replied. 'He takes hits at Emil Bove, who is one of the best human beings I know, one of the smartest, brilliant men I know, who will soon become a federal judge, and his hearing happens to be today, and I find the irony of the timing of it pretty remarkable, the lawsuit, but this had to do with attorney-client privilege information that was disclosed. I can't talk about the substance, but what I will tell you, and you have obviously my word, any zealous advocacy means to be done ethically and honestly, always. And that's what I mean by zealous advocacy.'
Bove is currently going through confirmation for a lifetime appointment to be a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Aside from the open corruption he's accused of by Reuveni, Bove also unsuccessfully defended Trump in the Stormy Daniels hush-money trial, was key in dropping the multiple corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in exchange for his loyalty, fired prosecutors who investigated January 6 and accused the FBI of 'insubordination' for not turning over the names of other staffers who worked on the investigation, and as a New York state prosecutor was described by colleagues as someone who could not 'be bothered to treat lesser mortals with respect or empathy.'
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