Emil Bove's nomination advances: Dems walk out as GOP senators ignore dissent
Dems walked out as GOP senators tuned out more than 900 ex-Justice Department lawyers and 75 former judges who urged them to reject Bove's nomination
Ignoring a groundswell of opposition from former Justice Department attorneys and retired judges, the Republican-dominated Senate Judiciary Committee voted on Thursday to advance the nomination of Emil Bove to become a judge on the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
Bove’s nomination will now head to the Senate for a full vote.
More than 900 former Justice Department lawyers and 75 former federal judges told the Senate Committee that Bove should not be confirmed for the position, an extraordinary rebuke of a nominee.
“We are all alarmed by DOJ leadership's recent deviations from constitutional principles and institutional guardrails,” the former Justice Department lawyers wrote in a letter on Wednesday. “We also share a grave concern over the senseless attacks on the dedicated career employees who are the backbone of the Department.”
“Emil Bove has been a leader in this assault,” they added.
Before the vote was cast, Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) refused to hear testimony from whistle-blower Erez Reuveni, who said that Bove instructed prosecutors to be ready to tell the courts “f*** you” in order to advance Donald Trump’s immigration agenda. Text messages back up Reuveni’s account.
Grassley said the corroborated allegations “has all the hallmarks of a media hit-job,” adding that his office received the whistle-blower report at the same time The New York Times ran his story. Democrats on the committee walked out before the vote, accusing Grassley of ramming through party-line approval before every senator had a chance to speak.
"This is out of order," Booker said, according to NBC News. "This is absolutely insane. What is the rush?"
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the committee, said that Grassley violated multiple rules to push through the vote on Bove and ex-Fox personality Jeanine Pirro, whose nomination for U.S. Attorney for the District of D.C. the committee also advanced.
“Today, Chairman Grassley blocked Democratic members from discussing the controversial records of nominees like Emil Bove and Jeanine Pirro, shut down debate, and forced votes for no apparent reason,” Durbin said in a statement.
From Eric Adams to a whistle-blower
Earlier this year, several prosecutors from the Southern District of New York and the D.C.-based Public Corruption Unit resigned in response to Bove’s demand to dismiss the bribery case of New York City Mayor Eric Adams without prejudice, giving the Trump administration the option to refile the charges. Multiple ex-prosecutors viewed the gambit as a “quid pro quo” to hold the threat of prosecution against Adams as leverage to push the mayor to advance Trump’s immigration agenda.
Bove, a former Southern District of New York alumnus, so alienated his former peers that he was forced to argue for dismissal on his own, despite being a senior Justice Department official based in Washington, D.C. He ultimately did not get what the Trump administration wanted: To avoid a conflict of interest, a federal judge dismissed the mayor’s charges with prejudice.
The judges’ and ex-DOJ lawyers’ letters invoked the Adams case and Bove’s various other scandals of his short tenure as a senior Justice Department official.
A former criminal defense attorney for Donald Trump, Bove has spent his tenure in Justice Department leadership advancing his former client’s political objectives, targeting those who investigated or prosecuted Jan. 6 rioters for retribution.
The former judges called it “reprehensible that Mr. Bove now refuses to condemn the shameful attack on the dignity and safety of every American that day.”
“The independence and credibility of the federal judiciary depend on the nomination and confirmation of individuals who demonstrate unwavering respect for the law and the institutions that uphold it,” the judges wrote in their letter. “Elevating a nominee whose record reflects a pattern of misconduct, disregard for lawful authority, and political entanglement would not only compromise the integrity of the courts, it would set a dangerous precedent that judicial power may be wielded in service of personal fealty rather than constitutional duty.”
The judges and ex-Justice Department lawyers saluted Reuveni in their letters.
“The risks Mr. Reuveni took by later blowing the whistle should inspire everyone committed to preserving the rule of law,” the ex-DOJ lawyers’ letter reads. “We all applaud his bravery, and we stand ready to support any DOJ employee who uses the proper channels to hold our government accountable.”
Bove never denied instructing prosecutors to tell the courts “f*** you,” testifying only that he could not “recall” making the remark.
“Each one of the undersigned would testify, under oath, that we have never—and would never—tell a Justice Department attorney to consider defying a court order,” the more than 90 ex-Justice Department attorneys wrote.
Read our prior coverage of the whistle-blower’s report and supporting documents here.
Editor’s Note:
A little more than a year ago, I saw Bove defending Trump every day inside Manhattan Criminal Court, and I spent years as a beat reporter covering the Southern District of New York, where Bove served as a prosecutor in a case that earned him a stinging rebuke from a judge. Experience and institutional memory matters.
If you aren’t currently a subscriber, consider supporting reliable and independent journalism with a free or paid subscription, or upgrade your subscription below.
Thanks Adam. As a friend wrote to me, is there at least just one day without a CF? Now it’s every seems like every few hours. Thanks for your reporting on Kilmar too.
This makes me sick to my stomach. What is the Republican end game here? I hope that tens of millions of people make good trouble today!