A top lawyer in the Department of Justice, whom President Donald Trump has nominated for a circuit court judgeship, told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday that he has "no recollection" of telling staff to ignore court orders while serving in the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
Emil Bove, who previously represented Trump in his New York state business fraud case, made the comments in response to a question from Sen. Adam Schiff (D-CA) about a whistleblower letter published on Tuesday that suggested Bove was willing to ignore court orders to help Trump get what he wanted.
Former DOJ prosecutor Erez Reuveni recounted a meeting with Bove in the whistleblower letter where Bove told Justice Department staff that "DOJ would need to consider telling the courts 'f--- you' and ignore any such court order" that required Kilmar Abrego Garcia to be returned from the infamous CECOT prison in El Salvador.
"Do you say anything of that kind in the meeting?" Schiff asked Bove during the hearing.
"Senator, I have no recollection of saying anything of that kind," Bove responded.
Schiff found Bove's answer hard to believe. "It seems to me that it would be something you remember unless it's the kind of thing you say frequently," he replied.
"Well, I have certainly said things encouraging litigators at the department to fight hard for valid positions we have to take in defense of our client," Bove said.
Bove's comments speak to Reuveni's dismissal from the Justice Department in April. Reuveni told a court in March that Abrego Garcia was mistakenly deported to El Salvador because of a clerical error. After making that comment, Reuveni was replaced by another prosecutor who argued that the Trump administration had the right to deport Abrego Garcia and that courts had no jurisdiction to order his return.
The court later ordered the Justice Department to "facilitate" the migrant's return to the United States, which the Trump administration tried to prevent.
"At no point did I suggest that DOJ should ignore court orders," Bove said. "There were no court orders to discuss."