Justice Dept. Whistleblower Joins Legal Group Battling the Trump Administration
Source: New York Times
Justice Dept. Whistleblower Joins Legal Group Battling the Trump Administration
Erez Reuveni, a lawyer who once defended the president's immigration policies in court, will now work for an advocacy group that sues to stop them
In this handout photograph provided by El Salvador's presidential press office, Venezuelan migrants arrive at the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador, in March. Agence France-Presse, via El Salvador's Presidency Press
By Devlin Barrett
https://www.nytimes.com/by/devlin-barrett
Reporting from Washington
Nov. 25, 2025, 8:00 a.m. ET
A former Justice Department lawyer who spoke out publicly about the Trump administration's aggressive maneuvers to deport migrants has joined one of the legal advocacy firms challenging the administration's approaches to immigration, benefits for the poor and civil rights. ... In an interview with The New York Times, Erez Reuveni said he decided to work for the group Democracy Forward because "this is really a make-or-break moment for the rule of law, for democracy, for the rights of all people who live in this country."
Mr. Reuveni, who worked for almost 15 years as a government lawyer, during which he often defended the Trump administration's immigration policies, was fired earlier this year in a standoff with his own bosses about what he said were efforts to mislead or ignore federal judges.
Administration officials have said he refused to follow orders and have denied Mr. Reuveni's claims, which were buttressed in part by a series of emails and text messages shared among government lawyers surrounding the rushed removals in March of more than 200 migrants to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador.
Mr. Reuveni filed a whistle-blower complaint to Congress and government agencies, saying a senior official, Emil Bove III, suggested the department should be prepared to ignore court orders to ensure the planes of migrants were shipped away.
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Devlin Barrett covers the Justice Department and the F.B.I. for The Times.
https://www.nytimes.com/by/devlin-barrett
Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/us/politics/erez-reuveni-democracy-forward.html
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We’ll be watching this closely -
Hang tough, good sir