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(CNN) — The Justice Department has placed on administrative leave a government immigration lawyer who in court this week expressed frustration at not being able to answer key questions from a judge over a mistaken deportation case, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Erez Reuveni argued the government’s case in the deportation of Kilmar Armando Abrego Garcia, who the government has said was sent to his native El Salvador last month due to a clerical error, despite a court order that he not be deported.
Reuveni said in court of the government’s position: “Our only arguments are jurisdictional. … He should not have been sent to El Salvador.”
Asked why the US couldn’t simply ask for his return, Reuveni said, “The first thing I did when I got this case on my desk is ask my clients the same question,” adding that he did not get a direct answer.
Attorney General Pam Bondi took issue with how Reuveni handled the case in court.
“At my direction, every Department of Justice attorney is required to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States. Any attorney who fails to abide by this direction will face consequences,” she said in a statement to CNN.
Bondi issued a memo on her first day as attorney general requiring lawyers to “zealously” advocate for administration positions or face disciplinary action and potential firing.
August Flentje, Reuveni’s supervisor, was also placed on administrative leave, according to one person familiar with the matter. ABC News reported earlier Saturday that Flentje was told he had failed to supervise a subordinate. CNN has reached out to Flentje and the Justice Department for comment.
Reuveni didn’t respond to a request for comment. On LinkedIn five months ago, he posted that he had been promoted to a new position as acting deputy director at the Office of Immigration Litigation.
Flentje, whose LinkedIn profile lists his title as deputy director of the Office of Immigration Litigation, is known for his work defending the travel ban in the first Trump administration, a role that garnered criticism from some DOJ colleagues.
In a court filing earlier this week, the Trump administration conceded that Abrego Garcia, a Maryland father of three, was deported “because of an administrative error.” That filing appeared to be the first time the administration has admitted an error related to its recent deportation flights to El Salvador, which are now at the center of a fraught legal battle.
“On March 15, although ICE was aware of his protection from removal to El Salvador, Abrego Garcia was removed to El Salvador because of an administrative error,” the Trump administration’s March 31 filing said.
A Maryland judge has ordered that Abrego Garcia be returned by Monday night, but the Trump administration on Saturday filed an emergency stay attempting to block the order. The administration has said it cannot return him because he’s now in Salvadoran custody.
Abrego Garcia, who attorneys say fled gang violence in El Salvador more than a decade ago, had been identified by his wife in a photo of detainees entering intake at CECOT, the country’s notorious mega prison.
This story has been updated with additional information.
CNN’s Kaanita Iyer and Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
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