Washington Whistleblower:
DOJ official suggested ignoring court orders on deportations
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official suggested the Trump administration might have to ignore court orders as it prepared to deport Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members, a fired department lawyer alleged in a whistleblower complaint made public Tuesday.
The filing seeking an investigation into the claims about Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who is set to face lawmakers Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become a federal appeals court judge.
The former DOJ lawyer, Erez Reuveni, was fired after he conceded in a court hearing that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should not have been deported to El Salvador, and expressed frustration over a lack of information about the administration’s actions.
The whistleblower filing from Reuveni’s lawyers describes a Justice Department meeting in March after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act over what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The filing alleges that Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could be carried out. Reuveni claims Bove used a profanity, saying the department would need to consider telling the courts “f— you,” and “ignore any such order,” according to the filing.
“Mr. Reuveni was stunned by Bove’s statement because, to Mr. Reuveni’s knowledge, no one in DOJ leadership - in any Administration – had ever suggested the Department of Justice could blatantly ignore court orders, especially with” an expletive, the filing says.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied the allegations in a post on X Tuesday morning. Blanche said Reuveni’s claims are “utterly false,” adding that he was at the meeting and “at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed.”
Reuveni was fired shortly after he had been promoted to serve as acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation. He had worked for the Justice Department for nearly 15 years under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Florida
State asks Supreme Court to reinstate immigration law as lower courts weigh constitutionality
The Florida Attorney General asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow the state to enforce a new immigration law that makes it a misdemeanor for people living in the U.S. illegally to enter the state.
The petition is the latest in a months-long battle between Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and district U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. Last week Williams held Uthmeier in contempt for instructing officers to continue enforcing the new law despite the judge’s orders to stop enforcement until the courts decide whether the law is constitutional.
The attorney general’s appeal to the Supreme Court said the state has a right to use the law to protect itself from the harm of illegal immigration. The legislation tracks federal law and the injunction shouldn’t cover every officer in the state “who never had their day in court,” the appeal argued.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation into law in February as part of President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration, though many of Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts are mired in battles with federal judges.
Immigrants rights groups filed lawsuits on behalf of two unnamed, Florida-based immigrants living in the U.S. illegally shortly after the bill was signed into law. The lawsuit said that the new legislation violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by encroaching on federal duties.
Williams issued a temporary restraining order and injunction that barred the enforcement of the new law statewide in April. The attorney general’s office then unsuccessfully petitioned the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to override that decision.
After Williams issued her original order, Uthmeier sent a memo to state and local law enforcement officers telling them to refrain from enforcing the law, even though he disagreed with the injunction. But five days later, he sent a memo saying the judge was legally wrong and that he couldn’t prevent police officers and deputies from enforcing the law.
“Again, he may well be right that the district court’s order is impermissibly broad,” the appellate judges said of Uthmeier. “But that does not warrant what seems to have been at least a veiled threat not to obey it.”
California
Dog trainer charged with animal cruelty
Eleven dogs died while in the care of a California dog trainer and prosecutors say he and his girlfriend tried to destroy the evidence by dropping off the dogs’ bodies at different crematoriums.
Kwong (Tony) Chun Sit, of Irvine, pleaded not guilty Monday in Orange County Superior Court to 11 counts of animal cruelty, 11 counts of animal abuse by a caretaker, seven counts of attempting to destroy evidence and one count of destruction of evidence, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Tingfeng Liu, of Vista, who is dating Sit, pleaded not guilty Monday to accessory to a felony and destruction of evidence, police said.
Sit, 53, and Liu, 23, are both are in custody on $550,000 bail each. Prosecutors said the couple was packed and ready to flee when they were arrested on Thursday. Each has been assigned a public defender, prosecutors said.
A pet owner contacted police last week saying their dog trainer told them their dog had died and had been cremated, police spokesperson Kyle Oldoerp said.
Investigators since have determined that 11 dogs died and that nine of them died on or around Wednesday, police said.
Aimee Gutierrez said in a social media post that her family several weeks earlier had adopted a 9-month-old Belgian Malinois and named her Saint. She said the person they trusted to help train Saint informed her by text that Saint had died in her sleep.
Another dog was also cremated, police said. The Irvine Police Department’s Animal Services Unit recovered the bodies of multiple dogs that prosecutors say had been dropped off by either Sit or Liu at crematoriums.
Necropsies performed on three of the dogs show two of the dogs died from heat stroke and the third dog died from blunt force trauma, prosecutors said. Necropsies are pending on the remaining six animals.
Sit worked throughout Southern California under different company names, including Happy K9 Academy, police said. A website with that company name says their services include boarding and training but doesn’t give a boarding facility address or other specific information.
DOJ official suggested ignoring court orders on deportations
WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Justice Department official suggested the Trump administration might have to ignore court orders as it prepared to deport Venezuelan migrants it accused of being gang members, a fired department lawyer alleged in a whistleblower complaint made public Tuesday.
The filing seeking an investigation into the claims about Principal Assistant Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove, who is set to face lawmakers Wednesday for his confirmation hearing to become a federal appeals court judge.
The former DOJ lawyer, Erez Reuveni, was fired after he conceded in a court hearing that Kilmar Abrego Garcia should not have been deported to El Salvador, and expressed frustration over a lack of information about the administration’s actions.
The whistleblower filing from Reuveni’s lawyers describes a Justice Department meeting in March after Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act over what he claimed was an invasion by the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua. The filing alleges that Bove raised the possibility that a court might block the deportations before they could be carried out. Reuveni claims Bove used a profanity, saying the department would need to consider telling the courts “f— you,” and “ignore any such order,” according to the filing.
“Mr. Reuveni was stunned by Bove’s statement because, to Mr. Reuveni’s knowledge, no one in DOJ leadership - in any Administration – had ever suggested the Department of Justice could blatantly ignore court orders, especially with” an expletive, the filing says.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche denied the allegations in a post on X Tuesday morning. Blanche said Reuveni’s claims are “utterly false,” adding that he was at the meeting and “at no time did anyone suggest a court order should not be followed.”
Reuveni was fired shortly after he had been promoted to serve as acting deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation. He had worked for the Justice Department for nearly 15 years under both Republican and Democratic administrations.
Florida
State asks Supreme Court to reinstate immigration law as lower courts weigh constitutionality
The Florida Attorney General asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to allow the state to enforce a new immigration law that makes it a misdemeanor for people living in the U.S. illegally to enter the state.
The petition is the latest in a months-long battle between Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier and district U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams. Last week Williams held Uthmeier in contempt for instructing officers to continue enforcing the new law despite the judge’s orders to stop enforcement until the courts decide whether the law is constitutional.
The attorney general’s appeal to the Supreme Court said the state has a right to use the law to protect itself from the harm of illegal immigration. The legislation tracks federal law and the injunction shouldn’t cover every officer in the state “who never had their day in court,” the appeal argued.
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation into law in February as part of President Donald Trump’s push to crack down on illegal immigration, though many of Trump’s immigration enforcement efforts are mired in battles with federal judges.
Immigrants rights groups filed lawsuits on behalf of two unnamed, Florida-based immigrants living in the U.S. illegally shortly after the bill was signed into law. The lawsuit said that the new legislation violates the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution by encroaching on federal duties.
Williams issued a temporary restraining order and injunction that barred the enforcement of the new law statewide in April. The attorney general’s office then unsuccessfully petitioned the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to override that decision.
After Williams issued her original order, Uthmeier sent a memo to state and local law enforcement officers telling them to refrain from enforcing the law, even though he disagreed with the injunction. But five days later, he sent a memo saying the judge was legally wrong and that he couldn’t prevent police officers and deputies from enforcing the law.
“Again, he may well be right that the district court’s order is impermissibly broad,” the appellate judges said of Uthmeier. “But that does not warrant what seems to have been at least a veiled threat not to obey it.”
California
Dog trainer charged with animal cruelty
Eleven dogs died while in the care of a California dog trainer and prosecutors say he and his girlfriend tried to destroy the evidence by dropping off the dogs’ bodies at different crematoriums.
Kwong (Tony) Chun Sit, of Irvine, pleaded not guilty Monday in Orange County Superior Court to 11 counts of animal cruelty, 11 counts of animal abuse by a caretaker, seven counts of attempting to destroy evidence and one count of destruction of evidence, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Tingfeng Liu, of Vista, who is dating Sit, pleaded not guilty Monday to accessory to a felony and destruction of evidence, police said.
Sit, 53, and Liu, 23, are both are in custody on $550,000 bail each. Prosecutors said the couple was packed and ready to flee when they were arrested on Thursday. Each has been assigned a public defender, prosecutors said.
A pet owner contacted police last week saying their dog trainer told them their dog had died and had been cremated, police spokesperson Kyle Oldoerp said.
Investigators since have determined that 11 dogs died and that nine of them died on or around Wednesday, police said.
Aimee Gutierrez said in a social media post that her family several weeks earlier had adopted a 9-month-old Belgian Malinois and named her Saint. She said the person they trusted to help train Saint informed her by text that Saint had died in her sleep.
Another dog was also cremated, police said. The Irvine Police Department’s Animal Services Unit recovered the bodies of multiple dogs that prosecutors say had been dropped off by either Sit or Liu at crematoriums.
Necropsies performed on three of the dogs show two of the dogs died from heat stroke and the third dog died from blunt force trauma, prosecutors said. Necropsies are pending on the remaining six animals.
Sit worked throughout Southern California under different company names, including Happy K9 Academy, police said. A website with that company name says their services include boarding and training but doesn’t give a boarding facility address or other specific information.
