• Former Justice Department attorney Erez Reuveni says Trump administration ordered him to falsely claim Kilmar Ábrego García was MS-13 member and terrorist
• Reuveni refused to sign briefing with false claims, was fired after 15-year career defending immigration policies
• Whistleblower disclosure reveals pattern of alleged court order defiance and due process violations at DOJ

WASHINGTON (TDR) — A fired Department of Justice lawyer delivered explosive testimony on national television Sunday, confirming what legal observers have suspected for months: The Trump administration directed him to lie to a federal judge about a wrongfully deported man’s gang affiliation.

Erez Reuveni told 60 Minutes that after officials mistakenly deported Kilmar Ábrego García to El Salvador, a superior ordered him to argue in court that Ábrego García was an MS-13 gang member and terrorist to prevent his return to the United States. The claims were demonstrably false.

“And I respond up the chain of command: No way. That is not correct. That is not factually correct, it’s not legally correct. That is a lie. And I cannot sign my name to that briefing,” Reuveni, who has since been fired from the DOJ, said during the interview.

A decorated career ends abruptly

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Reuveni spent nearly 15 years at the Justice Department, winning commendations and awards for his work, including from Republican appointees during Trump’s first administration. He specialized in immigration law and successfully defended controversial policies like the first-term travel ban on predominantly Muslim countries.

Shortly after Trump’s return to office, Reuveni was promoted to acting deputy director of the DOJ’s immigration section, overseeing about 100 attorneys and every case that arose in federal district courts. Three weeks later, he was terminated.

The Ábrego García case

Ábrego García, a Salvadoran man, had received protection from deportation through a 2019 court order based on fears he would be targeted by gangs if returned. Despite this order, he was deported on March 15 during weekend flights to El Salvador’s notorious CECOT prison.

When lawyers challenged the deportation in court, Judge Paula Xinis ordered the government to return Ábrego García by midnight on April 7. The Trump administration resisted, claiming it lacked authority to retrieve him from El Salvador’s custody.

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In court proceedings, Reuveni conceded the deportation was a mistake and acknowledged he lacked information to answer the judge’s questions about the legal basis for Ábrego García’s seizure and removal. His candor cost him his career.

Pattern of alleged misconduct

The 60 Minutes interview marks Reuveni’s first time showing his face publicly since becoming a whistleblower. In June, he filed a formal complaint with Congress, the DOJ Office of Inspector General, and the Office of Special Counsel, detailing what he called defiance and noncompliance in three separate immigration cases.

The disclosure alleges that Emil Bove, the number three official at DOJ, told attorneys at a March 14 meeting that deportation planes “need to take off, no matter what”, and that they might need to tell judges “f*** you” if courts issued orders blocking removals.

Bove, now confirmed as a federal judge, dismissed Reuveni’s claims in a statement as “a mix of falsehoods and wild distortions of reality”.

What’s at stake

When asked by host Scott Pelley whether Ábrego García might actually be dangerous, Reuveni emphasized a larger principle at stake.

“Whether Mr. Ábrego García is or isn’t a member of MS-13 or a terrorist or anything else is beside the point,” Reuveni said. “What matters here is that they did everything they did to him in violation of his due process rights”.

Ábrego García was eventually returned to the United States and now faces charges for transporting illegal immigrants, to which he has pleaded not guilty. A judge criticized the Justice Department’s “poor attempts” to connect him to MS-13, and he was not charged with terrorism.

Should government lawyers face consequences for refusing to make false statements in court?

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