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Left: U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia Chief Judge James “Jeb” Boasberg takes part in a mock trial at Harman Hall in Washington, D.C., Feb. 17, 2026. (Francis Chung/POLITICO via AP Images). Right: DOJ Deputy Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Immigration Litigation of the Civil Division Drew Ensign (DOJ).
A legal advocacy group, backed by a former White House attorney who played a role in the Russia investigation, has called on the D.C. Bar to launch an inquiry into a Department of Justice lawyer. The group is urging the bar to consider “appropriate discipline” due to alleged “misconduct” by the attorney while representing the Trump administration in immigration cases.
According to Law&Crime, the issue dates back to a contentious emergency hearing held on a Saturday, where Chief U.S. District Judge James Boasberg ordered the Trump administration to cease deportations under the Alien Enemies Act (AEA) involving 252 Venezuelans accused of gang affiliations. The order included a directive to recall any aircraft in transit, yet reports indicate the administration ignored the mandate. This controversy resurfaced on Tuesday with an ethics complaint filed by Lawyers Defending American Democracy (LDAD) against Drew Ensign, a Deputy Assistant Attorney General.
The complaint accuses Ensign of breaching professional conduct rules by allegedly making “knowingly false statements” to the court. When questioned by Judge Boasberg about the status of these deportations, Ensign claimed ignorance, stating, “I don’t know the answer to that question,” and further expressed that he did “not have additional details [he] can provide at this time.” The LDAD asserts that Ensign failed to correct these inaccuracies, prompting Judge Boasberg to initiate a contempt investigation, which is currently paused.
Both Ensign and former DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni, who turned whistleblower, were slated to testify under oath regarding whether the government intentionally defied the court order and to determine any potential criminal responsibility. However, the D.C. Circuit halted these proceedings.
Reuveni, who had served at the DOJ for nearly 15 years, was placed on leave and subsequently dismissed in April 2025. His termination followed his refusal to comply with directives from superiors to submit a brief containing alleged misrepresentations about Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man wrongfully deported. Reuveni admitted in court that Abrego Garcia “should not have been removed” from the U.S., and he claims that the DOJ is prosecuting him out of vindictiveness.
Then-Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, now the acting AG, said Reuveni failed to “follow a directive from [his] superiors; fail[ed] to zealously advocate on behalf of the United States; and engag[ed] in conduct prejudicial to [his] client. But that would not be the last word from Reuveni.
He alleged that Ensign was there the day before Boasberg issued the restraining order the government flouted, when former Principal Associate Deputy Attorney General Emil Bove had suggested during a meeting that the government give the courts a “f— you” if the government was blocked from carrying out mass AEA deportations.
Blanche countered that Reuveni was a “disgruntled former employee” who was using Bove’s then-pending nomination for a judgeship at the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to lash out with “false” claims, and Bove went on to be confirmed nonetheless. But the episode continues to cause problems for Ensign.
“Mr. Ensign’s statement that he did not know whether AEA removals would take place in the next 24 or 48 hours was false. As noted, he had been present at a meeting the previous day at which then Acting Assistant U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove stated that one or more planes containing individuals subject to the AEA would be taking off over the weekend, ‘no matter what,’” the complaint said. “Before the hearing resumed, Mr. Ensign and Mr. Reuveni received an email from plaintiffs’ attorney citing public reporting of flight information and stating that they had reason to believe that people were on planes for imminent deportation.”
“Mr. Ensign had a duty, at a minimum, to tell the Court that the federal government intended to remove the Venezuelan migrants within the next 48 hours and that he had been informed by plaintiffs’ counsel that their deportation was imminent based on public reporting,” the complaint added. “Instead, Mr. Ensign falsely told the Court he knew nothing about these things and he failed to correct these material misstatements of fact.”
LDAD chair Scott Harshbarger, a former Massachusetts attorney general, said “[e]very lawyer – including government lawyers – has a duty to tell the truth to the courts and uphold the integrity of the justice system.”
“This complaint asks the D.C. Bar to investigate serious allegations that go to the heart of the rule of law,” he added.
Ty Cobb, once a White House lawyer handling Trump’s response to the late Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation, released a statement of his own explaining why he joined LDAD and a number of other attorneys and former judges in signing the ethics complaint against Ensign.
Ty Cobb, former White House special counsel during the first Trump administration, sits for an interview in 2025 (PBS/YouTube).
“Government attorneys are not exempt from the ethical rules that govern the legal profession and, because of the oath they take, their obligations are even more sacred,” Cobb said. “Accountability is essential to maintaining public confidence in the administration of justice.”
Law&Crime reached out to Ensign for comment on the complaint.