WASHINGTON — Senate Republicans on Tuesday confirmed Emil Bove to a lifetime federal judgeship, choosing to ignore credible allegations that Bove had told Justice Department attorneys to defy court orders and say “fuck you” to judges who ruled against them.
Bove was confirmed, 50-49. Every Democrat opposed him, along with two Republicans: Sens. Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine).
Bove, 44, will now serve on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit, which has jurisdiction over cases in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and the Virgin Islands.
Given his age, he will potentially sit on this court for decades.
Bove is easily President Donald Trump’s most alarming court pick in his second term. He was previously Trump’s personal criminal defense attorney and, until now, has been Trump’s so-called “enforcer” at the Justice Department, where he’s spent months carrying out an apparent campaign of retribution against Trump’s perceived political enemies.
As a senior DOJ official, Bove ordered the firings of federal prosecutors who worked on criminal cases stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. He ordered career prosecutors to dismiss corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a clear quid pro quo deal. He also called for the firings of senior FBI officials who were involved in the Jan. 6 probes.
Bove has faced damning allegations from former senior DOJ attorney Erez Reuveni, who claimed in a whistleblower disclosure that Bove had told DOJ attorneys to ignore court orders, mislead judges and tell them “fuck you” if they ruled against the department in a case involving the removal of hundreds of immigrants to a prison in El Salvador.
Asked about this in his Senate nomination hearing, Bove said he couldn’t recall saying those things and denied he’d told people to defy court orders.
A second whistleblower later came forward with documents corroborating Reuveni’s allegations, and a third whistleblower emerged Monday with documentation suggesting Bove misled senators during his hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
And in a stunning rebuke, more than 900 former Justice Department attorneys signed onto a letter condemning Bove’s “assault” on DOJ employees and urged senators to “rigorously examine” his record before considering voting for him.
But none of this swayed Republicans to oppose Bove, whose confirmation was clearly a high priority for Trump.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, held firm in pushing Bove forward amid all the allegations against him. He compared Democrats’ attacks on Bove to the way they attacked now-Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who faced fresh and credible accusations of sexual assault just before Republicans confirmed him to his post.
“Eleventh-hour media smears by my colleagues based on information that was hidden from the Committee are unacceptable, and I won’t stand for it as a delay and obstruction tactic,” Grassley said Tuesday on the Senate floor.
“This tactic didn’t work against Justice Kavanaugh, and it won’t work against Mr. Bove,” he said.
Democrats were scrambling up until the end to stop Bove’s nomination.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), the top Democrat on the judiciary panel, released a batch of text messages, email exchanges and other documents corroborating Reuveni’s allegations. After the third whistleblower came forward, Sens. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Cory Booker (D-N.J.) wrote to DOJ’s acting inspector general on Tuesday with questions about whether Bove is or has been investigated by the department for wrongdoing.
In a final appeal to his GOP colleagues ahead of the vote, Durbin warned that Trump isn’t even trying to hide his belief that Bove’s loyalty lies with him. He cited a message Trump posted on social media last month about Bove.
“President Trump himself has made it clear that Mr. Bove was selected for this position not because of his legal accomplishments, or his dedication to a conservative method of constitutional interpretation,” Durbin said on the Senate floor. “As the president put it, Mr. Bove will ‘do anything … that is necessary to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.’”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) took a harsher tack, condemning Republicans for voting to put a “January 6th sympathizer” onto the federal bench.
“To my Republican colleagues who were here on January 6 and who are now putting him on the bench: shame on you,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “To confirm Mr. Bove is a sacrilegious act against our democracy, and a deep violation against the spirit of our oaths of office.”
Progressive judicial advocacy groups fumed about Bove’s confirmation.
“His deeply inadequate judicial temperament, his unacceptable record of abusing power, and his disturbing efforts to seek retaliation while at the Justice Department should have been disqualifying. Instead, he was rewarded with a lifetime position on a powerful appellate court,” Lena Zwarensteyn, senior director of the fair courts program at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, said in a statement.
“Every senator who voted to confirm Mr. Bove — despite serious, troubling, and increasing whistleblower revelations and so many unanswered questions — has failed their constituents and our country,” Zwarensteyn said.
Maggie Jo Buchanan, interim executive director of Demand Justice, said Bove’s confirmation “represents some of the worst aspects of far too many elected to office in Washington―cowardice and political expediency over duty to constituents.”
“The American people want and deserve judges who are independent and fair, not ones who have done nothing to hide their political loyalties,” she said in a statement. “Those who voted to confirm Bove to a lifetime seat on the federal bench should be ashamed.”