President Donald Trump’s controversial nominee Emil Bove was narrowly confirmed on party lines to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit on Monday evening.
Bove, the principal associate deputy attorney general at the Department of Justice, formerly represented Trump on the president’s personal defense team. His confirmation follows a contentious confirmation process, during which three whistleblowers alleged that Bove expressed disregard for DOJ procedures.
Whistleblower and former Acting Deputy Director in the DOJ’s Office of Immigration Litigation Erez Reuveni presented his case in a 27-page letter in June. Bove said in a March meeting when discussing the deportation of individuals on airplanes subject to the administration’s Alien Enemies Act proclamation, that “DOJ would need to consider telling the courts ‘f*** you’ and ignore any such court order,” if a court ordered that the planes be halted, Reuveni claimed.
Attorney General Pam Bondi dismissed Reuveni’s claims as those of a “disgruntled employee,” and Bove denies any wrongdoing. Reuveni was fired under Bove’s watch after 14 years at the Justice Department.
Two other whistleblowers came forward to ostensibly corroborate Reuveni’s concerns, but Senator Chuck Grassley (R., Iowa) said that his team investigated Reuveni’s initial claim and found no evidence that Bove encouraged DOJ staff to defy courts.
“I think he has demonstrated in several ways that he doesn’t respect the authority of the federal courts and doesn’t respect the role of the DOJ attorneys representing the United States before those courts,” one whistleblower told CNN.
Democrats used “vicious rhetoric, unfair accusation and abuse directed at Mr. Bove,” Grassley said, and “crossed the line” with their attempts to unseat Bove.
“He has a strong legal background and has served his country honorably. I believe he will be a diligent, capable, and fair jurist,” Grassley said.
Two Republicans joined Democrats in voting against Bove’s confirmation: Senators Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine).
“I don’t think that somebody who has counseled other attorneys that you should ignore the law, you should reject the law — I don’t think that that individual should be placed in a lifetime seat on the bench,” Murkowski said.
Bove is a Georgetown University Law graduate who clerked for two federal judges and was a federal prosecutor in the Southern District of New York. He was also one of Trump’s personal attorneys during the president’s criminal prosecutions.
Described by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) as a “Trumpian henchman,” Bove said that “I am not anybody’s henchman. I’m not an enforcer. I’m a lawyer from a small town who never expected to be in an arena like this.”