Ranking Member Raskin Demands Answers from Acting Attorney General Blanche Over DOJ’s Alarming Pattern of Lying to Judges and Violating Court Orders

Washington, D.C. (July 15, 2026)—Rep. Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, is demanding answers from Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche regarding an alarming and widespread pattern of Department of Justice (DOJ) attorneys misleading federal courts and defying lawful court orders.

“The question is no longer whether DOJ lawyers are lying to the courts. The question is to what extent DOJ leadership and the White House have directly ordered these attorneys to violate their ethical and legal obligations, and whether there has been any discipline imposed on government attorneys and agents for violating the sacrosanct duty to tell the truth in court,” wrote Ranking Member Raskin.

In hundreds of cases over the past eighteen months, federal judges—appointed by presidents of both parties, including Trump himself—have questioned DOJ’s candor and compliance with court directives. Judges across the country have described DOJ filings as “a sham,” “deceptive,” and undermining the longstanding presumption that the government acts in good faith before the courts.

Evidence also points to instruction from senior DOJ officials to disregard court orders. In a whistleblower complaint to Congress last year, a supervisor in DOJ’s Office of Immigration Litigation revealed that then-senior DOJ official Emil Bove—now a federal judge—told prosecutors they may need to tell federal judges “fuck you” and ignore lawful court orders blocking deportations, insisting that “the planes need to take off no matter what.” The whistleblower, Erez Reuveni, was fired for telling the truth in federal court.

Ranking Member Raskin highlighted fifteen recent cases in which federal judges found that DOJ attorneys misled the court, withheld material information, or defied lawful orders. Spanning jurisdictions across the country and involving judges appointed by presidents of both parties, these findings point to a systemic breakdown in candor and compliance that demands urgent investigation. For example:

• Administrative Subpoena to Rhode Island Hospital: A federal judge quashed a DOJ subpoena after finding the Department “misrepresented and withheld information” from two courts, concluding DOJ had “proven unworthy of this trust at every point in this case.” 
• Minnesota Grand Jury Subpoenas: A judge found DOJ’s subpoenas were a “blatantly unlawful and unethical” misuse of the grand jury process to “harass, coerce, and retaliate” against state officials. 
• Iastrebov v. Warden, Baker County Detention Facility: After DOJ reversed its legal position midstream, a federal judge condemned the conduct as a “masterclass in litigation cynicism” and found the Department “cannot follow this Court’s explicit directions.”

Ranking Member Raskin is seeking communications between the White House and DOJ leadership regarding court misrepresentations or defiance of orders; records of all misconduct referrals; internal approvals or edits of representations made to federal courts in the cited cases; and DOJ guidance to U.S. Attorneys’ Offices regarding the expectations of DOJ line attorneys and reporting mechanisms for attorney misconduct. 

Click here to read the letter.