The former U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) attorney, who is facing a bar complaint over his alleged breach of the attorney-client privilege during remarks in federal court, raised his own concerns about the privilege in a letter to U.S. District Court Judge James Boasberg.
Written in reference to the contempt case against the Trump administration brought by Boasberg, the letter to the judge was sent by an attorney representing Erez Reuveni, who was fired from the DOJ after the agency said he failed to vigorously represent his client, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in the lawsuit brought against the Trump administration by Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
The lawyer representing Reuveni wrote in his letter to Boasberg, “Mr. Reuveni anticipates that the Court and the parties will ask Mr. Reuveni questions that may implicate the attorney-client privilege that existed” between him and his former client.
“Accordingly, in order to provide testimony while abiding by his ethical obligations, Mr. Reuveni needs the court to issue a ‘final order’ at the outset,” wrote Reuveni’s lawyers, who wrote that the order should specify, “what the Court and the parties may permissibly ask Mr. Reuveni.”
Reuveni was originally scheduled to testify on Monday, but the Washington, D.C. District Court of Appeals issued a second stay on Boasberg’s contempt charges, which began after the Trump administration deported alleged Tren de Aragua terrorists to Venezuela after the judge issued a verbal order demanding the flights be turned around.
The appellate court first blocked Boasberg’s contempt charges in August, but the full court issued a split decision narrowly allowing Boasberg to resume in November, before the same panel of judges stayed additional actions for the second time in a decision announced last week.
The attempt to secure testimony from Reuveni comes weeks after the nonprofit Democracy Restored filed a complaint against the former DOJ lawyer with the California Bar Association, citing the public remarks Reuveni made following his whistleblower complaint, which alleged former members of the Trump administration hatched a plan to defy federal courts.
“Reuveni went public only AFTER his termination, and as DOJ official Emil Bove was under consideration for a federal judgeship,” said the nonprofit. “His actions appear politically motivated, not protective of justice. By leaking client information, he undermines the trust that keeps our justice system functional and weakens the importance and bravery of true whistleblowers.” The U.S. Senate has since confirmed Bove to serve as a federal appellate judge.
Reuveni’s statements came after he defended the DHS in the first lawsuit brought against the Trump administration by Abrego Garcia, following his contested March deportation.
Abrego Garcia was ultimately returned to the United States in June, just weeks after The Tennessee Star reported that the Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) stopped him in 2022, when U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi unsealed the indictment accusing him of human smuggling.
A spokesman for THP told The Star that Abrego Garcia was released at the instruction of the “Biden-era FBI,” despite a DHS document showing troopers suspected human trafficking during the stop. The Star was recently recognized for its reporting on Abrego Garcia with the Dao Prize for Best Local Journalism.
The case against Abrego Garcia is scheduled to reach trial in January. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges, and last week, U.S. District Court Judge Paula Xinis ordered his release from DHS custody.
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Tom Pappert is a 2025 recipient of the Dao Prize and the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star. He also reports for the Star News Network. Follow Tom on X. Email tips to [email protected].
