Former DOJ official gave 'privileged legal advice' to DHS Sec before she sent El Salvadoran criminals home

In a filing released Monday, Former Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Elim Bove told Judge James Boasberg that he offered "privileged legal advice" to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem regarding the March removal of illegal immigrant gang members under the Alien Enemies Act that has been challenged in court. The timing of the removals has come under questioning, with the declaration from Bove, as well as others, being required for the consideration of criminal contempt referrals.

"Beginning during the morning of March 15, 2025, and throughout that weekend, I monitored developments related to this case. On the evening of March 15, 2025, I was aware of statements by the court during proceedings that day, the court’s minute entries, and other public filings on the docket sheet. 

"Based on my evaluation of those materials, I contributed to privileged legal advice provided to the Secretary of Homeland Security on March 15, 2025—by communicating with Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and Acting DHS General Counsel Joseph Mazzara—regarding the transfer of custody of aliens who had been detained pursuant to the Alien Enemies Act and removed from the United States. 

The filing came in response to a late November filing from Judge James Boasberg, in which he ordered that the Trump administration "shall submit from all individuals involved in the decision not to halt the transfer of class members out of US physical custody on March 15 and 16, 2025. Such declarations shall detail their roles in such decision."

Declarations were also submitted from Noem, Mazzara, and Blanche on Friday. Noem declared that "I made the decision to continue the transfer of custody of the Alien Enemies Act detainees who had been removed from the United States before this court issued its temporary restraining order in the evening of March 15, 2025. Before making that decision, I received privileged legal advice from the Acting General Counsel of the Department of Homeland Security, Joseph N Mazzara, and through him from senior leadership of the Department of Justice." 

Mazzara said that on March 15, 2025, "I analyzed what the Court said at the TRO hearing and in its subsequent written order. After my review, I then gave Secretary Noem legal advice—prior to her decision—about the legality of continuing with the transfer of custody to El Salvador of certain terrorist aliens detained under the Alien Enemies Act." He later added, "That same evening, I also gave Secretary Noem—prior to her decision—legal advice on the same topic that I received from senior Department of Justice leaders."

Blanche answered similarly, writing that he and Bove "provided privileged legal advice to the Secretary of Homeland Security, through Acting DHS General Counsel Joseph N Mazzara, regarding the decision whether to continue the transfer of custody of the Alien Enemies Act detainees who had been removed from the United States before this Court issued those pronouncements."