One of Trump’s Cronies Wanted to Skirt the Judicial System to Deport Immigrants

It would be helpful if the administration would stop nominating ghouls for important positions who look so much like ... well, ghouls. I mean, this Emil Bove guy, the former DOJ hardbar currently under consideration for a federal judgeship, makes every Klingon commander look like Pierce Brosnan. How this jamoke ever got out of the frame and escaped Dorian Gray’s attic is beyond me. Anyway, as The New York Times reported, this guy looks like the personification of what Hamlet’s father calls, “the blossoms of [his] sins.” And they are legion.

The account by the dismissed lawyer, Erez Reuveni, paints a disturbing portrait of his final three weeks on the front lines of the Trump administration’s legal efforts to ship immigrants overseas, often with little notice or recourse. In Mr. Reuveni’s telling, Mr. Bove discussed disregarding court orders, adding an expletive for emphasis, and other top law enforcement officials showed themselves ready to stonewall judges or lie to them to get their way. Mr. Reuveni’s account, which was obtained by The New York Times, was filed to lawmakers and the Justice Department inspector general on Tuesday, just one day before Mr. Bove is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee for a nomination to a federal appeals court.

Denials and encomia flew thick and fast from out of the great white palace of deceit, but the NYT and Mr. Reuveni, who got fired in April for questioning the deportation of an innocent man to El Salvador, seem to have the goods.

The filing, however, suggests a copious trail of emails, texts and phone records that would support Mr. Reuveni’s version of events. It notes that he was recently promoted, and had diligently defended controversial immigration policies of the first Trump administration. A pivotal meeting occurred on March 14, when Mr. Bove, a senior official in the deputy attorney general’s office, spoke bluntly about the administration’s plans. He informed his subordinates that Mr. Trump would soon invoke the Alien Enemies Act to rapidly fly a group of immigrants out of the country that weekend. Two other officials in that office, James McHenry and Paul Perkins, were in attendance, as well as Mr. Reuveni’s supervisors, Drew Ensign and August Flentje, according to the whistle-blower document.

Mr. Bove “stressed to all in attendance that the planes needed to take off no matter what,” according to Mr. Reuveni’s account. Mr. Bove then broached “the possibility that a court order would enjoin those removals before they could be effectuated.”

“Bove stated that D.O.J. would need to consider telling the courts ‘fuck you’ and ignore any such order,” according to the account. “Mr. Reuveni perceived that others in the room looked stunned, and he observed awkward, nervous glances among people in the room. Silence overtook the room.”

Put this guy on a bus and send him back under the bridge where he belongs.