Emil Bove, who was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit, denied that he had ever told Justice Department lawyers to ignore court orders to facilitate deportations under the Alien Enemies Act, the Washington Examiner reported.

"I have never advised a Department of Justice attorney to violate a court order," Bove said while testifying at his Senate Judiciary Committee hearing. "I will reiterate … I did not advise any Justice Department attorney to violate court orders. The Deputy Attorney General [Todd Blanche] … has confirmed that the account in that whistleblower complaint is not accurate."

Erez Reuveni, a former DOJ attorney, submitted a whistleblower complaint claiming senior officials said they would deny court orders related to the blocking of deportations, the Examiner reported.

"The planes need to take off no matter what," Bove said, according to Reuveni's complaint.

Reuveni claimed that Bove said DOJ should consider telling courts "f*** you."

"Even if that account is taken at face value, the whistleblower acknowledges that he left the meeting … with the understanding that, of course, the department would advise clients to abide by court orders," Bove said at the hearing. "I don't think there's any validity to the suggestion that that whistleblower complaint filed yesterday calls into question my qualifications to serve as a circuit judge."

Bove, who previously served as Trump's lawyer before working at the Justice Department, also said there was no quid pro quo in dismissing charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

"There's been some criticism … suggesting that there was some kind of illicit quid pro quo in connection with that motion. That's simply false," Bove said. "Mayor Adams and lawyers filed a letter on the public docket in that case that stated explicitly there was no quid pro quo. Mayor Adams himself was sworn under oath at the hearing, and he explained there were no agreements outside of what was committed to [in] writing."

Bove said he never threatened or incentivized any Justice Department attorneys to dismiss the charges against Adams.

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