The Justice Department pushed back Thursday against a former employee-turned-leaker who alleged senior officials instructed attorneys to disregard federal court orders, calling him a “disgruntled” ex-staffer engaged in a politically timed smear campaign against President Donald Trump‘s federal appeals court nominee Emil Bove.

Attorney General Pam Bondi rejected claims on Thursday from Erez Reuveni, a former DOJ immigration lawyer, who alleged in a whistleblower complaint that Bove, a ranking member of the DOJ, told government attorneys on March 14 that the department may end up ignoring court orders. Reuveni was fired in April after telling a judge that the DOJ mistakenly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran national who has since been returned to the United States to face federal human smuggling charges.