DOJ Whistleblower Reveals Officials Ordered Fabrication of Terrorist Claims in Deportation Case

Justice Department whistleblower Erez Reuveni, a 15-year DOJ attorney, revealed in October 2025 testimony that senior officials ordered him to fabricate terrorist claims in court briefs to justify the wrongful deportation of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to El Salvador. Reuveni was told to argue in legal filings that Abrego Garcia was an ‘MS-13 gang member’ and a ’terrorist’ despite no evidence supporting these claims. When Reuveni refused, stating ‘That is not correct. That is not factually correct. It is not legally correct. That is a lie. And I cannot sign my name to that brief,’ he was placed on administrative leave seven hours later for ‘failure to follow a directive’ and fired on April 11, 2025. The full facts revealed Abrego Garcia had been deported by mistake. Reuveni’s disclosure, filed with the Government Accountability Project in June 2025, concerned the Abrego Garcia case and officials’ stated willingness to disregard court orders; it contains no count of cases with judicial findings of false government statements. The “over 35 cases” figure in the same 60 Minutes broadcast was stated by Ryan Goodman (NYU, Just Security), who said “We found over 35 cases in which the judges have specifically said, what the government is providing me is false information,” a count across the administration’s Justice Department litigation, not limited to immigration and not drawn from Reuveni’s disclosure. The case demonstrates systematic abuse of the legal process, with DOJ officials instructing attorneys to defy court rulings and fabricate evidence to cover illegal mass expulsions.