WASHINGTON ― President Donald Trump’s controversial judicial nominee Emil Bove consulted with a far-right legal group after Trump nominated him to a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit ― the same court currently considering at least one case this group is actively involved in.
Buried in a 165-page document full of his written answers to questions from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Bove mentions that after he was nominated, he discussed his judicial philosophy and preparations for his confirmation hearing with Kellie Fiedorek, the senior counsel and government affairs director for Alliance Defending Freedom.
“Subsequent to my nomination, I communicated with Kellie [Fiedorek] to discuss my qualifications for the position, my judicial philosophy, and preparing for my confirmation hearing,” Bove said in his July 2 responses to the committee.
That Bove, who is 44 and nominated to a lifetime federal court seat, is talking with this group at all should raise eyebrows. ADF, which identifies as a conservative Christian legal advocacy group, has been designated an anti-LBGTQ hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. It has supported the recriminalization of sexual acts between consenting LGBTQ adults, defended forced sterilization of transgender people, claimed that LGBTQ people are more likely to engage in pedophilia and, predictably, warned that a so-called “homosexual agenda” will destroy us all.
ADF was also central to the end of national abortion rights, leading the legal challenge that brought the case that ultimately overturned Roe v. Wade.
Bove’s communications with the group come as the Trump administration has repeatedly been issuing policies that roll back protections for LGBTQ+ people, an agenda often supported by the courts. Earlier this year, the Supreme Court issued rulings that, in separate cases, allowed states to ban gender affirming care for minors and permitted parents to withdraw their children from lessons that included LGBTQ characters or themes.
But beyond ADF’s activities, Bove’s discussions with this group raise questions about whether they discussed anything relevant to a case currently before the 3rd Circuit, as Bove, if confirmed, could potentially end up presiding over the matter. ADF is actively involved in Heaps v. Delaware Valley Regional High School Board of Education, a case relating to parental rights and school gender policies. ADF attorneys representing a New Jersey man in the case filed their opening brief with this court late last month.
Bove wouldn’t have a conflict of interest in cases involving ADF just because he talked with the group during his nomination process, said Stephen Gillers, the Elihu Root professor of law emeritus at the New York University School of Law.
But if he weighed in on the case ADF currently has before the court, that’s a red flag.
“Bove would be recused from the case only if in his talk he implicitly or explicitly stated his view of the merits of the case,” said Gillers.
Wendy Weiser, the vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, sees Bove’s conversations with ADF as more problematic.
“I agree that this situation creates an appearance of impropriety that would warrant recusal,” Weiser said. “The core recusal standard is whether the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, and Bove’s cozy relationship with this litigant would certainly reasonably concern most observers.”
She noted, though, that recusal rules “are not very strictly applied” and Bove would get to decide the initial disqualification motion himself.
“It is difficult to win subsequent recusal actions against judges,” said Weiser.
A White House spokesperson did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment relating to Bove’s conversations with ADF.
ADF did not respond to a request for comment by HuffPost on its discussions with Bove.
Bove, who was Trump’s personal attorney and is currently a senior Justice Department official, is easily the president’s most alarming judicial nominee in his second term. A Justice Department whistleblower has credibly accused him of telling DOJ attorneys to defy court orders and to tell judges “fuck you” if they rule against the department.
When asked about the allegations during his Senate confirmation hearing, Bove said he couldn’t recall any of this.
At DOJ, Bove has ordered the firings of federal prosecutors who worked on criminal cases tied to the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, and ordered career prosecutors to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a clear quid pro quo deal.
Last week, more than 900 former Justice Department attorneys condemned his nomination.
Despite all that, every Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance Bove’s nomination last week. On Thursday, only two Republicans voted against moving forward with Bove’s nomination on the Senate floor: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine).
Bove now awaits his final confirmation vote, which is coming as soon as next Monday.
“Mr. Bove is beyond unqualified and unworthy of the federal bench ― he is an existential threat to the rule of law and our democracy as we know it,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Thursday morning on the Senate floor.
“Mr. Bove is as far from the mainstream as any judicial nominee we have considered in this chamber,” he said. “He is a Trump-ian henchman ― the extreme of the extreme of the extreme.”
Progressive groups continue to strongly oppose Bove. His discussions with ADF, after he was nominated, are yet another reason they want his nomination to go down.
“The red flags on Emil Bove’s judicial nomination are piling up,” said Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US, a nonpartisan watchdog group focused on corruption in government.
“Bove has shown unflinching loyalty to his former client and current boss, Donald Trump; has refused to commit to recusing himself on cases involving the President; and is the subject of a whistleblower complaint casting doubt on his integrity and highlighting his lack of respect for the law,” Ciccone said in a statement. “Now it’s clear that he has also conferred with a far-right legal organization that has matters before the court on which he would serve.”
Just as concerning, she warned, is that Bove has “repeatedly disregarded” the ethical standards of both the federal courts and the rule of law.
“His lifetime appointment opens the door for the President and his allies to seek out favorable rulings,” Ciccone added, “no matter how unconstitutional their actions may be.”