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Politics|Grassley, a Champion of Whistle-Blowers, Spurns Them in Fight Over Bove
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/29/us/politics/grassley-whistle-blowers-emil-bove.html
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The senator’s treatment of whistle-blowers detailing allegations against Emil Bove, the Trump loyalist and appeals court nominee, has had a chilling effect, critics say.
July 29, 2025, 6:53 p.m. ET
Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa, has been known for decades as a champion of whistle-blowers. But in recent days, he has faced growing criticism that he has retreated from his signature issue in a battle over the nomination of a Trump loyalist to a lifetime appointment on the federal bench.
The fight over the nominee, Emil Bove III, a top official at the Justice Department, some argue, is now chilling the very efforts Mr. Grassley, 91, has spent more than 40 years fostering.
Last month, a day before Mr. Bove testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee over his nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, a former lawyer for the Justice Department, Erez Reuveni, filed a detailed complaint describing Mr. Bove as a crucial player in pressuring department lawyers to mislead judges and ignore court orders in the administration’s frantic bid to send Venezuelan migrants to a high-security prison in El Salvador.
Mr. Grassley’s reaction was striking, particularly given that he has long trumpeted whistle-blower claims by law enforcement officials.
“The timing alone indicates that this was a coordinated political strike and there are other reasons to be skeptical” of Mr. Reuveni’s claims, Mr. Grassley said at the outset of Mr. Bove’s hearing.
Mr. Grassley’s treatment of whistle-blowers like Mr. Reuveni is discouraging others from talking to Congress, lawyers and others representing government workers fired or demoted by the Trump administration say.
