Donald Trump’s lawyer turned top Justice Department official said he does not recall suggesting the DoJ tell the courts “f*** you” after he was confronted about a whistleblower complaint.
Emil Bove appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee after being nominated by the president to serve as a judge on the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.
It came one day after a whistleblower filed a complaint accusing Bove, who is currently Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General, of suggesting the Trump administration defy court orders over its efforts to deport undocumented immigrants.
Senator Adam Schiff brought up the complaint during the confirmation hearing.
“In the complaint, it says Bove stated that DOJ would need to consider telling the courts ‘f*** you’ and ignoring any such court order,” Schiff read. “Did you say anything of that kind in the meeting?”
“Senator, I have no recollection of saying anything of that kind,” Bove responded.
But the California senator was not buying it, repeatedly pressing him over the accusations in regards to the March 14 meeting.
“Wouldn’t you recall Mr. Bove if you said or suggested during a meeting with Justice Department lawyers, maybe they should consider telling the court ‘f*** you’?” Schiff shot back. “It seems to me that would be something you’d remember unless that’s the kind of thing you would say frequently.”
“Well, I’ve certainly said things encouraging litigators at the department to fight hard for valid positions that we have to take in defense of our client,” Bove said.
Schiff asked if he frequently suggests they say “f*** you” and ignore court orders.
“No and as I explained, I’ve never directed,” Bove started before being cut off by Schiff, who repeated the original question.
“I did not suggest that there would be any need to consider ignoring court orders,” Bove finally said.
The top Justice Department official, who was under oath, argued at the point of the meeting in question, there were “no court orders to discuss.”
“Did you suggest telling to courts ‘f*** you’ in any manner?” Schiff countered.
“I don’t recall,” Bove said.
The testy back-and-forth came after a former Justice Department lawyer filed a whistleblower complaint on Tuesday in which he accused Bove of making the suggestion during a meeting earlier this year.
The Daily Beast obtained a copy of the 27-page complaint from Erez Reuveni, who worked at the Justice Department for nearly 15 years before his termination.
Reuveni was fired from the department in April after he admitted in federal court to a judge that the government had mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.
The complaint was submitted to the inspector general and Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday ahead of Wednesday’s confirmation hearing.
Schiff also brought up that the complaint claimed Bove stressed in the meeting that the planes carrying undocumented immigrants needed to take off no matter what.
“These are the planes that a judge was ordering not be used to render people to a maximum security prison outside the country,” Schiff said. He asked Bove if he had stressed that.
“Senator, your characterization is not accurate,” Bove said.
Schiff shot back that it was the characterization of a “decorated prosecutor” in that meeting.
Bove, in the end, countered that he had stressed the importance of the upcoming operation.
He insisted during the fiery exchange that he did not participate in the willful violation of court orders while working in the Justice Department.
Bove showed up at the hearing on Wednesday prepared to push back on accusations against him after he first served as Trump’s personal lawyer before being tapped for a top job in the Justice Department.
“I want to be clear about one thing up front: There is a wildly inaccurate caricature of me in the mainstream media. I’m not anybody’s henchman. I’m not an enforcer,” Bove said in his opening remarks, kicking off the contentious hearing.
In response to the whistleblower complaint, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, who also previously worked with Bove as Trump’s personal lawyer, blasted the media, specifically the New York Times, for reporting on the complaint’s content.
He claimed on X that it was “falsehoods purportedly made by a disgruntled former employee and then leaked to the press in violation of ethical obligations.”
He called the accusations “utterly false” and claimed “not a single individual except the disgruntled former employee agrees with the statements cavalierly printed.”
“I was at the meeting described in the article and at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed,” Blanche posted.
The post Trump Lawyer Pressed Over ‘F*** You’ Whistleblower Courts Claim appeared first on The Daily Beast.
