'I'm not anybody's henchman': Trump official denies advising court defiance in immigration crackdown

US Justice Department official Emil Bove denied having advised President Donald Trump's administration to defy a court order against its immigration crackdown as he faced Democratic criticism on Wednesday (June 25) over his nomination by Trump to serve on a federal appeals court. Bove disputed claims by a former Justice Department lawyer that he suggested to subordinates that the government may flout court orders, criticizing a "wildly inaccurate caricature" of himself in the news media. "I am not anybody's henchman," Bove told the Republican-controlled Senate Judiciary Committee. "I'm not an enforcer. I'm a lawyer from a small town who never expected to be in an arena like this."