Washington Examiner

Grassley blocks Democrats’ call for Bove ‘whistleblower’ hearing – Washington Examiner

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) announced that the committee will proceed with a scheduled vote on Emil Bove’s nomination to the 3rd United States Circuit Court of Appeals without holding a second hearing, despite Democrats’ requests. Democrats seek additional scrutiny following whistleblower allegations by former DOJ official Erez Reuveni,who claimed Bove suggested DOJ lawyers could defy court orders related to deportation flights to El Salvador. Bove has denied these accusations under oath. Grassley cited precedent and stated that available documents do not substantiate claims of misconduct by Bove. The committee is set to vote on Bove’s nomination alongside several other judicial and legal appointments.


Grassley blocks Democrats’ call for Bove ‘whistleblower’ hearing

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-IA) said Tuesday that the panel will proceed with a scheduled vote on Emil Bove’s nomination this week, rejecting Democrats’ calls for a second hearing to investigate whistleblower claims that President Donald Trump‘s judicial nominee encouraged Department of Justice lawyers to defy court orders.

Bove, nominated to the 3rd United States Circuit Court of Appeals, has been scrutinized by Democrats following allegations from former DOJ official Erez Reuveni.

Reuveni, who was later fired from the DOJ, claims Bove suggested during a March 14 meeting that DOJ attorneys could tell judges “f*** you” if courts tried to block deportations to El Salvador.

Former President Donald Trump’s lawyer Emil Bove appears in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Thursday, April 25, 2024, in New York. (Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times via AP, Pool)

Despite that claim, Grassley said the committee would not deviate from precedent and dismissed the need for a second hearing.

“Many times during the last administration, then-Chairman Dick Durbin said ‘there cannot be one set of rules for Republicans on this Committee and another set of rules for Democrats,’” Grassley wrote in a letter to Democratic members. “I agree with this statement and intend to adhere to the precedent of then-Chairman Durbin.”

Bove, who previously served on Trump’s criminal defense team, testified before the committee on June 25 and submitted 165 pages of written responses. He denied wrongdoing under oath at the hearing: “I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order.”

Democrats on the committee last week referenced leaked text messages allegedly showing that other agency officials present for the March meeting also recalled the expletive and the discussion of a plan to proceed with deportation flights regardless of judicial orders. Those included communications from DOJ attorney Drew Ensign, who claimed in court he didn’t know whether flights were scheduled to take nearly 200 Venezuelan detainees to El Salvador, even as logistical planning by the Department of Homeland Security was underway. Though a judge later ordered the flights halted, two that were already in the air continued as scheduled, and the detainees have since been held in an El Salvador mega prison.

Democrats had urged Republicans to allow Reuveni to testify under oath before Thursday’s vote, arguing his claims warrant further examination. But Grassley pushed back, releasing an analysis Tuesday concluding that the documents tied to Reuveni’s allegations do not substantiate Bove’s misconduct.

Committee Chair Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, left, talks with ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., during a Senate Judiciary committee hearing on fentanyl, and the need for permanent class scheduling, on Capitol Hill, Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Rod Lamkey, Jr.)

“Almost none of the additional documents you published include, reference, or even cite Mr. Bove,” Grassley wrote. “Most of the communications merely reflect Administration attorneys internally debating or discussing litigation strategy and the scope of court orders.”

Grassley also cited a sworn statement from Bove’s former supervisor, August Flentje, who said Bove told DOJ lawyers to avoid a court order, not to defy one. Grassley noted that Reuveni later stated that his takeaway from the meeting was that “DOJ would tell DHS to follow all court orders.”

DOJ TORCHES ‘DISGRUNTLED’ LEAKER TARGETING TRUMP JUDICIAL NOMINEE EMIL BOVE

In a prior statement, Attorney General Pam Bondi dismissed Reuveni’s claims as “false” and politically timed, saying his firing was for breaching ethical obligations, not whistleblowing.

The Judiciary Committee is set to vote on Bove’s nomination Thursday, in addition to the nominations of four other district judges and the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, currently a position held in the interim by Jeanine Pirro.



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