Grassley releases analysis of whistleblower allegations
WASHINGTON – Citing Senate Judiciary Committee precedent, Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) today announced the Committee will not hold a second hearing on Emil Bove’s nomination to the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. The Committee will vote on Bove’s nomination on Thursday, July 17.
During the last administration, then-Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) denied Republicans’ requests for additional hearings on at least four nominees.
“Many times during the last Administration, then-Chairman Durbin said ‘there cannot be one set of rules for Republicans on this Committee and another set of rules for Democrats.’ I agree with this statement and intend to adhere to the precedent of then-Chairman Durbin. The Committee will vote on the nomination of Mr. Bove on Thursday,” Grassley concluded in a letter to Senate Judiciary Democrats.
Bove participated in a lengthy nominations hearing on June 25 and provided members of the Committee with 165 pages of written responses to their questions.
Minority members of the Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday requested the Committee call whistleblower Erez Reuveni, a former Department of Justice (DOJ) official, to testify in a second hearing regarding Bove’s nomination. Reuveni has alleged Bove advised DOJ officials to defy court orders regarding the Trump administration’s enforcement of immigration laws. In response to these whistleblower allegations, Bove told the Committee under oath, “I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order.” The Attorney General and Deputy Attorney General have affirmed Bove’s sworn testimony.
Grassley has completed an analysis of the Minority’s summary of the whistleblower’s document disclosures, which is available HERE.
“Following a comprehensive review of the additional documents that you published following the hearing and discussed in the media, I do not believe that they substantiate any misconduct by Mr. Bove,” Grassley wrote to the Minority. “Almost none of the additional documents you published include, reference, or even cite Mr. Bove. Most of the communications merely reflect Administration attorneys internally debating or discussing litigation strategy and the scope of court orders. Debate about the scope of court orders is fundamentally inconsistent with an intention to ignore them. Moreover, many of the legal positions discussed in the documents were ultimately advanced in federal court as the formal position of the United States, and the Administration has received at least some appellate relief in each of the cases described.”
“I respect whistleblowers and the whistleblowing process and have taken this matter seriously. I note that the available documents and the public record are inconsistent with some of the whistleblower’s assertions, which have been reviewed in good faith. The gravamen of the allegations is that Mr. Bove directed Justice Department attorneys to ignore court orders, but (1) the meeting with Mr. Bove occurred before there was any litigation or court order to follow; and (2) Mr. Reuveni himself clarified that he departed the meeting with Mr. Bove with the express understanding that ‘DOJ would tell DHS to follow all court orders,’” Grassley continued.
Read Grassley’s full letter HERE.
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