- Sen. Durbin releases documents on Emil Bove.
- Documents support whistleblower’s claims about Bove.
- Bove allegedly misled federal court, disobeyed orders.
Bove, who is currently the associate deputy U.S. attorney general and has been nominated to a lifetime seat on the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, is facing serious allegations from former DOJ lawyer Erez Reuveni, who filed a complaint last month alleging that Bove told DOJ lawyers to say "fuck you" to judges who ruled against them.
Reuveni was a highly regarded, 15-year DOJ lawyer who was fired in April after testifying in court that the Trump administration had wrongfully transferred Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador.
According to his lawsuit, during a meeting with senior DOJ leadership on March 14, Bove informed them that they "would need to consider telling the courts 'fuck you' and ignore" any court order.
Bove, who was previously Trump's personal attorney, was questioned about these claims during his judicial confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee last month. He informed senators that he "can't recall" doing any of the things Reuveni accused him of. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has described Reuveni's assertions as "utterly false."
But on Thursday, Durbin, the committee's top Democrat, published text conversations, email exchanges, and other records that corroborated Reuveni's claims. They include correspondence that demonstrate Reuveni's futile efforts to ensure that the DOJ was complying with court orders, as well as the futility of his efforts, since senior DOJ officials made it obvious that they do not intend to comply with court judgments.
“These episodes can only lead to one conclusion: Emil Bove belongs nowhere near the federal bench,”
Durbin said.
“This vote will be a litmus test for Senate Judiciary Republicans. This is about more than a random f-bomb.
This is a declaration of defiance of our courts at the highest level of our government by a man who now seeks a lifetime appointment to one of the highest courts in our land.”
What specific documents did Durbin release and where to read them?
Senator Dick Durbin released crucial documents corroborating whistleblower Erez Reuveni's allegations against Emil Bove, a Trump judicial designee. The documents include textbook dispatches, dispatch exchanges, and other internal Department of Justice dispatches detailing Bove’s involvement in sweats to mislead a civil court and defy its orders.
They specifically reveal Bove’s part in the administration's violation of a court order that blocked the transfer of Venezuelan settlers to a Salvadoran captivity in March 2025. Durbin released these documents via the Senate Judiciary Committee's sanctioned website in a press release dated July 9, 2025.
The full set of documents and a summary of the whistleblower's substantiation can be penetrated at the Senate Judiciary Committee's web page under Durbin's releases.